


Won’t You Stay 'Til The AM?

by Lena_halo



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anal Fingering, Boss Louis Tomlinson, Bottom Harry, CEO, CEO Louis Tomlinson, Cute Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Established Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Harry Styles Loves Louis Tomlinson, Harry-centric, How Do I Tag, Late Night Conversations, Liam Payne & Harry Styles Friendship, Louis Tomlinson Calls Harry Styles Pet Names, Louis Tomlinson Loves Harry Styles, M/M, Niall Horan & Harry Styles Friendship, Niall Horan & Liam Payne Friendship, Past Eleanor Calder/Louis Tomlinson, Prince Harry Styles, Rich Louis Tomlinson, Rimming, Slow Burn, Smut, Top Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik & Louis Tomlinson Friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-14 11:35:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 83,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28670097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lena_halo/pseuds/Lena_halo
Summary: or Harry Styles gets hired as Louis Tomlinsons personal assistant.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 160
Kudos: 187





	1. Chapter 1

Harry’s hands were cold and sweaty as he looked up at the huge building in front of him. He felt small as he had to tilt his head back and it was honestly intimidating. 

He tried everything to not feel nervous today. He drank his favourite smoothie, he meditated this morning and yesterday evening and he even did yoga. 

He had his outfit planned since he had gotten the job and he practiced how he would introduce himself to his new boss- which he had yet to meet- in front of the mirror more often then he’s like to admit. 

The curly boy sighed and looked at the watch on his wrist. He had yet another 15 minutes to kill before his first day would start. Harry liked to be prepared and early. It wouldn’t make a good first impression if he would come to late. 

When another five minutes have passed he made his way into the building and made his way to the elevator. One advantage he had was that he already knew some parts of the building because of Liam, his best friend he worked in the marketing department. 

It wasn’t often that he and Niall visited him for his lunch break but it happened a few times so he knew he wouldn’t get completely lost. At least in the first few floors. 

From the email he had gotten a week prior he knew that he needed to go to the highest floor. He pressed the 28 and closed his eyes, trying to take deep and steady breaths to calm himself down. 

The elevator door opened with a loud bing and Harry wiped his hands on his black jeans once more before stepping out of it.

It was pretty quiet and all he heard was soft, classical music from speakers on the walls and the tipping sounds from a keyboard. 

He looked to his left where he saw a big brown door which was closed. On the right was a glass door leading to something that looked like a room where meetings are being held. 

He decided to go up to the left door and knock on it. Harry still had six minutes before his actual first day would start but being five minutes early is better then five minutes late. 

He didn’t want to appear to eager but he wanted to appear responsible. 

He raised his hand, forming it into a fist to knock on the door when a voice suddenly appeared behind him. 

“Mr Styles?” He flinched lightly and turned around. In front of him was a tall women in here late thirties. Her lips were painted in red lipstick and black glasses were sitting on her nose. She had her hair tightly combed back into a low bun. 

He cleared his throat and nodded. 

“Uhm...yeah, that would be me.” He smiled and shook her hand hoping that his were not to clammy. 

The women wore suit pants, with a blazer and a tie. All in matching purple tones. She returned the smile half hearted and pushed her glasses back up her nose. 

“My names Susan Davey, I’m Mr Tomlinsons secretary. He’s in a phone call right now after that he’ll be free to see you. Follow me.” Harry nodded at her words and followed her. 

“This,” she opened the door next to what he assumed was Mr Tomlinsons office, “ is going to be your office. You can decorate it however you like. I’m going to give you your laptop later. On the desk is a phone, with all of the important numbers as well as a description for them. I’m sure you’ll learn them fast. Mr Tomlinson will tell you what exactly he wants you to do later but be prepared for a lot of paper work, he hates to do that.” Harry nodded again, kind of overwhelmed with all of the information. He honestly regrets that he didn’t bring his notebook to write everything down. 

They left his office and Harry followed Susan? Mrs Davey? Miss Davey? He didn’t see a ring but maybe he just didn’t look close enough. 

“Here’s the kitchen, feel free to take what ever you crave and if something is missing just tell me and I’ll make sure that we’ll have it.” There were mugs on a shelf, a kettle as well as a fridge with different kinds of waters and sodas and Harry was sure Energy drinks. 

There was also a big Barista machine which, Harry had no idea how that works. All he had at home was his french press. 

“You’ll figure out how it works, it’s easier then it looks like.” She smiled and left the kitchen again, Harry following suit. 

“This is the conference room. Here happen the most important meetings concerning the company. Usually Mr Tomlinson goes down to one of the lower floors whatever department has a meeting, he goes there but if it is something really important it happens here.” 

“And last but not least, my office. Feel free to come whenever you have a question.” She looked at her watch again and hummed. 

“Mr Tomlinsons phone call is over. You can go see him now.” She started walking again, small but quick steps until they were standing in front of the brown wood door again. 

Susan Davey knocked and opened as soon as she heard the “yes please.” 

“Mr Tomlinson, Mr Styles is here to see you.” 

“Oh yeah, let him in. You can go for now Susan. I’ll see you tomorrow.” A raspy voice, that was higher then Harrys but sounded oh so good answered. 

Harry didn’t see a lot because Susan was standing in the door. He just waited patiently. 

“Thank you, goodbye.”

“Bye and greet Bernard for me!”

“Will do!” She laughed and turned around, facing Harry again. 

“I’m going to put the laptop on your desk before I leave and if you have any questions just call me, it’s no problem at all. Now if everything goes right, I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“What do you mean goes right? I thought I had the job?” Harry furrowed his brows in confusion. 

“Well technically yeah but it wasn’t fully approved by Mr Tomlinson just by the department below him. But I’m sure he’ll like you.” She gave him a reassuring smile and walked away, leaving Harry even more anxious then before. 

He can do it, he’s well prepared. He closed his eyes, taking one big breath before knocking and entering the huge office. He really needed the money. 

Two of the walls were replaced with windows, which were going from the ceiling to the floor. A huge desk was standing in the middle of the room and the walk behind it was covered with books. In front of the desk where two comfy looking armchairs. 

The other wall had pictures of certificates and other things that Harry couldn’t really see hanging. 

A big couch with a coffee table was facing the windows, which were giving a beautiful view over London. 

The clearing of a throat made Harry turn away from the windows, facing the desk. Louis Tomlinson, CEO of Tomlinson Inc., was leaning against his desk, arms crossed and eyes focused on Harry. Sure Harry had seen photos before. How could you not, his face was literally everywhere and he was one of the most handsome man to exist. 

Even from the distant they had, Harry could tell that these were the bluest eyes he’s ever seen and everything in him wanted to see them from up close. 

He licked his lips one and tried to stand straight. 

“Mr Styles, nice to meet you.” He held his hand open and Harry blinked once. Twice. Before he urged forward to shake the hand. 

“Mr Tomlinson it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He smiled and felt himself starting to sweat again. 

What happened to stay cool?

“I’m sure. Take a seat.” Mr Tomlinson made a gesture to the armchairs before he walked around the desk and took a seat in his chair. 

Harry chose the right one and made sure to sit straight in it, not wanting to appear rude. 

“So your name is Harry Styles?” Harry nodded. 

“Uhm, yes sir.” 

“How old are you? You look young.” 

“Uhm... twenty one, sir.” Harrys hands started to shake. He thought the whole interview thing was over. He want prepared to be interviewed today. 

“That is really young. But you graduated university. Tell me a bit about yourself.” Harry furrowed his brows because he was to 99% sure that in front of Mr Tomlinson was his application and resume, so he really didn’t know why he had to answer those things again when Mr Tomlinson already knew them. 

“I started school when I was 5 and then I skipped a class and was basically 17 when I graduated high school. I immediately went to university and tried to do as much courses as possible. And now I’m here.” The blue eyed man in front of him nodded. 

“And why here? I mean I’m sure there are different jobs that aren’t as binding as this one. You do know that this is a 24/7, 7 days a week job? It’s hard and many people don’t have the power for that.” 

“Uhm yeah, i know that but I don’t mind that and I think it’s a Good chance to get as much work experience as possible. I did look into different options but none of them really spoke to me I guess? So my friend, who works here actually said that this position was open and I always liked the atmosphere here when I visited him.”

“Who’s your friend then?” Mr Tomlinson had his hands intertwined and was fiddling with his thumbs. His eyes looking from Harry down to his resume. 

“Ehm.. Liam...Liam Payne. He works in the marketing department.”

“Ahh yeah, I know him. Good lad. Hard working.” Harry smiled at those words. Liam did work hard. Always working overtime and putting his heart into it. 

“Well Mr Styles, I think that’s pretty much it. Do you have any questions left?” He leaned back in his chair and looked expectingly to Harry. 

“Uhm... no sir, I don’t.” 

“Okay great, I’m sure that we’re gonna make a good team.” Harry looked up, his eyes meeting blue ones and he smiled. 

“So I have the Job?” He squealed lightly, feeling like a weight has been taking off his shoulders. Mr Tomlinson laughed and nodded. It was probably the most beautiful sound he’s ever heard. 

“Yeah kiddo.” Harry blushed a little. He wasn’t a kid. 

“That’s great. Thank you so much!” Harry beamed but then remembered his manners and that it was his boss, that was sitting in front of him. 

“Did Mrs. Davey show you you’re office?” 

“Yeah, she showed me around a little bit while you had the meeting.” 

“Okay great. So basically what I need you for is paper work, presentations, you need to check deals that are offered to our company and I’m sure you’ll learn fast and will now quickly what I like and don’t. When you’re fully worked in everything will go to you before it goes to me. So you have quite a big responsibility but I’m sure you’ll do just fine.” Harry tried to remember everything he’s saying so that he won’t mess anything up. 

“I don’t expect you to be always here just because I’m here, I’ll let you know wether I need you or not but make sure that you’re phone is always unmuted. It can happen that I need you to get things for me or just do stuff that I don’t have time for.” 

“I’m sure we’re going to find a good rhythm. Your first week is going to be a normal 9 to 5 week just to get used to things. Do you have a car?” 

“No I don’t.” 

“But you can drive?”

“Yes.”

“Okay then I’m gonna give you a car.” Harry furrowed his brows and shook his head. 

“You can’t just give me a car. I don’t need one.”

“Yeah you do. You’re going to need to get through the city as fast as possible and I can’t let you walk everywhere. And when you have important files I can’t let you use the underground either. You could loose it or it could get stolen or anything. Believe it all happened before and I just don’t want to take any risks.”  
Mr Tomlinson cleared his throat. 

“That would be all for now. Your laptop is already prepared and you just have to download my calendar on your phone. It’s part of your job to make sure that I’m always in time and don’t miss anything.” He walked over to the door and opened it for Harry who walked out of the huge room. 

“If you have questions just knock on my door. I know that Mrs Davey probably told you to call her but she needs some free time, she works too much.” Harry nodded understandingly. 

“I’ll have another meeting in one and a half hour if I’m correct I want you to come with me. Bring your laptop.” He closed the door before Harry could’ve said anything. 

The curly boy let out a sigh and walked into his office. One of the walls were replaced with windows as well and Harry stepped up to them, looking over the busy streets of London. 

It was quiet the cloudy day and Harry hoped it wouldn’t rain today. He doesn’t have any umbrellas or rain coats on him. And he walked here. 

He made his way over to the desk and his eyes widened when he saw the brand new MacBook on it. 

He immediately did what Mr Tomlinson said, downloading everything that he would need on his phone and then he opened his notes, quickly writing everything down. He didn’t want to forget anything or mess up. 

This job was important. When he was done he checked his phone and smiled when he saw the messages from his mom, Niall and Liam. 

He quickly answered his mom, who simply wished him good luck on his first day and told him she loved him. 

Niall and Liam wished him good luck and they quickly agreed upon meeting this evening to go to a pub. 

Since Harry hadn’t had anything to do he just sat in his stool and waited for the time to pass until the meeting. 

He played Candy Crush, he wasn’t proud of it but he had quite the obsession with this game. 

When it was time for the meeting he quickly grabbed his laptop and made his way outside where Mr Tomlinson was just closing his door. 

His phone was pressed to his ear and he made a swift hand gesture for Harry to follow him. 

He hummed into the phone and Harry made sure to walk a view steps behind him, trying to give him personal space. It didn’t work in the elevator they were in now though. 

“Yeah I’ll see what I can do, I’ll let you know on Friday...Yeah.... no I’m not! Listen I gotta hang up, I’ll talk to ya later mate... yeah bye.” The older boy sighed and slipped his phone in his pocket. 

It was quite awkward and Harry hated uncomfortable silence. He swayed lightly on his feet and waited for the elevator to bring them to their destination. 

“Nervous?” He was a bit surprised by the question and looked over to his boss. 

“No sir.” 

“Okay. So this meeting is rather small and not so important but I expect you to listen intently and make notes. After the meeting we’re going to talk about it and I want to know what you think.”

“Okay sir.” The elevator opened the doors with a bing and Harry was confronted with much more noise then in Mr Tomlinson floor. 

People were walking around or tipping on their laptops or talking on the phone. It was a small chaos. He didn’t now where he was until he and Mr Tomlinson entered the conference room and he was met by brown teddy bear eyes and a big smile. 

He returned the smile to Liam and felt relaxed that his best friend was here. 

His boss went around an shook everyone’s hand before he sat down, gesturing for Harry to sit down next to him. 

Liam winked at him and stood up from where he was sitting, apparently he was the one to held the meeting. 

Harry listened carefully and wrote every thought he had down, tongue slightly sticking out because of how much he concentrated on it. 

When Liam was finished he was met with a lot of questions which he tried to answer as good as he could. 

Mr Tomlinson cleared his throat, all the attention was immediately turned to him and he stood up. 

“Right, thank you Mr Payne I’ll let you know what I think about it tomorrow. For now the meeting is finished. You can go back to work.” Everyone took their belongings and left the room. Harry looked to Liam who in a overdramatical gesture wiped sweat from his forehead. 

Harry chuckled and gave him a small thumbs up before he took his belongings and followed Mr Tomlinson. 

“You know that you’re allowed to talk right? You could’ve went up to Mr Payne and greet him.” The blue eyed man said the moment the elevator doors closed. 

“Oh uhm... I wasn’t sure.” Harry bit his lip and leaned against the wall. 

“Well now you know. I want my employees to be happy and not some over worked animals. That’s not what I’m about.” He smiled up to Harry and pulled his phone out checking the messages he got. 

When they reached the 28th floor Harry followed Mr Tomlinson into his office and sat down when he was told to. 

He opened the note app on his laptop and quickly glanced over them again. 

“D’you want something to drink? I’ve got water or soda.” Harry cleared his throat and looked up, to Mr Tomlinson who was crouching in front of a mini fridge. 

“Oh, uhm water would be nice. Thank you.” He smiled when he received the bottle and quickly took a sip. He really needed to drink more water. 

“Okay, go on. Tell me what you liked, what you didn’t like. Your thoughts.” Harry bit his lip and nodded for, what felt like the millionth time today. 

“Yeah sure. Ehm Li- Mr Payne did a good job but I feel like he didn’t cover every aspect. I think overall he is on the right path what with the marketing of the product but there was something missing. He didn’t consider every interest group. I feel like with the way he would promote it, you wouldn’t gain many new buyers from different categories. You would have the same one as before and maybe a few new ones but I don’t think it’ll gain a lot of attention. But he still did a good job.” 

He didn’t want to talk bad about Liam in front of his job and he technically knew that he was kind of guilty that Liam wasn’t as prepared as he could’ve been. 

He and Niall basically annoyed Liam two days ago, until he went out with them, leading to him neglecting his work. He was complaining the whole time that he needed to finish the presentation until Niall filled him up with Tequila shots. 

It was a funny evening though. 

He looked up to Mr Tomlinson who had a blank face and stared back at him. Harry gulped anxiously, not knowing if what he said was right or wrong. 

“Good work. I see it in the same way. I kind of expected you to fail since Mr Payne is your friend but you did a good job.” Harry beamed a little bit at that and closed the note app again. 

-

The following weeks were stuffed with Harry learning everything he needed to know and attending meetings with Mr Tomlinson. 

He scheduled appointments and meetings as well as making sure that Mr Tomlinson was always in time for everything. 

Harry quickly learned how his boss liked his tea (Yorkshire with a splash of milk no sugar) never coffee and that he had quite the obsession with cocoa pops and Nesquik. 

Harry would find it cute if he wasn’t a grown 28 year old man but who was Harry to judge other peoples habits.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on Twitter @ lena_halo

“Harry come here for a second. I need your opinion.” Yeah that was also a thing. Mr Tomlinson said he didn’t like to be so formal and asked him if it was okay to call him Harry. Harry said yes. And that’s that.

He walked into Mr Tomlinsons office. The older man was standing at his desk, leaning on it with the palms of his hands. His blue eyes, were focused on two slogans for a new company he invested in.

“Which one do you think is better?” Harry studied the two slogans for a while before pointing to the left one. 

“You sure?” Blue eyes snatched up to his green eyes.

“I guess. I like this one more. It’s cleaner and easier to read.” Mr Tomlinson hummed but Harry wasn’t sure if it was an approvingly one or not.

“Can you hold both of them up and stand by the door, please? I need to see them from further away.”

Harry took the two pieces of paper and held them up while walking backwards until his back hit the door.

“Okay let’s see, I’m a student...walking down the street. I have a coffee in my hand...and earphones in and I’m listening to a... podcast, right? That’s what you younger people do, right?” Harry watched as Mr Tomlinson acted everything out he just said and stopped when he looked at him.

“Uhm... I guess?” Harrys voice got higher at the end, making it sound more like a question he didn’t really know what the trends where right now. He stocked to his 80 sounds and musicals.

“What’d’ya mean you guess. What do you listen to?” 

“Uhh like Fleetwood Mac, they’re pretty good and yeah, stuff like that but I don’t think many people my age do. I’m not sure.” His boss nodded and smiled.

“Okay so Fleetwood Mac it is.” He rolled his shoulders and looked at the slogans. 

“Can you just hold the left one up?” Harry did as he was told and let his eyes wander through the room again.

“Now the other one.”

“Now both.” The blue eyed man nodded satisfied and sat down in his chair.

“You were right, we’re gonna use this one.” He pointed to the one Harry was holding up and gestured for Harry to sit down.

“Isn’t that job of the marketing department, to like make those choices?” He asked as he said down and fiddled with his hands.

“Technically yes but I always like the whole aspect of marketing and designing a product. You know the whole promo stuff and it’s fun to see and not as boring as looking at numbers the whole day.” Harry smiled, yeah that made sense.

“I’m going to order food now. Do you want something?” Harry furrowed his brows a little bit.

“Uhm no, but thank you.” He hoped he didn’t sound rude but it was an odd offer. At least Harry thought it was.

“Are you sure? I know that you didn’t have your lunch break today. It’s on me.” Harry stood up and smiled.

“Yeah, I’m sure. Still have a lot to do so... yeah.” He scrambled out of the room with a small wave and let out a big sigh. Why was he so god damn weird.

He rubbed his forehead with his hand and walked into his office, plumbing into the chair that was standing there.

He closed his eyes. Harry always interprets too much into situations. It has always been one of his biggest problems and he just couldn’t help it. Sometimes he realises that he was completely wrong and overreacting and sometimes he just kept overanalysing and overanalysing.

Right now it was one of the moments where he realised how weird he acted minutes before. It was a complete innocent offer and his mind tricked him.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and Texte Liam, asking if they could go eat something. He needed to clear his mind and he knew that Mr Tomlinson didn’t have a problem with the fact that Liam and Harry spendet their breaks together.

Liam quickly replied with a  yes meet u in 5 , so Harry took his things and made his way to the elevator where unfortunately his boss was standing.

Harry sighed again and asked himself what he did wrong that he was always met with awkward situations.

He quietly stopped a few steps away from the blue eyed man and waited for the elevator to arrive.

He noticed Mr Tomlinsons gaze on him, how could he not by those piercing blue eyes but he tried to avoid them as good as possible.

The elevator arrived and Mr Tomlinson made a gesture for Harry to walk first. 

“Where do you need to go?”

“Hm? Oh 13th floor please.” He mumbled and held his eyes on the floor.

“Marketing department then. Do you need something from there?”

“Ehm no-“ Harry dragged the o out and before he could say anything else the door opened. 

Harry’s shoulders sagged down in relieve to get out of the situation but he tensed up in the moment he saw Liam standing in front of them.

“Oh Mr Tomlinson.” Liam smiled brightly and nodded as a greeting.

“Mr Payne.” He returned the movement with a small smile.

“Hey H, just wanted to go up to you. Where do you want to go? I’m literally starving!” Liam chuckled and ruffled Harrys long hair, which first of all how rude and second of all how embarrassing to do that in front of their boss. 

Harry’s cheeks where burning red and he felt Mr Tomlinsons eyes on him and he’s sure he hates him now.

“I don’t know, you can pick.” Harry mumbled and looked to the floor. 

He didn’t even know why his boss was here when he said he would order himself something.

“Perfect. I’m sick of your healthy food. It’s honestly disgusting Haz.” Liam teased and Harry rolled his eyes.

“No ‘s not. It tastes good.”

“Oh sure just keep telling yourself that.” Harry pouted and Liam nudged him with his shoulder, silently showing him  it’s fine, I’m just kidding.

Harry leaned against the elevator wall, impatiently waiting for the door to open and free him.

*

“Was it just me or was the air tense between you and Tomlinson? Is everything alright? He’s normally a really chatty guy.” Liam asked him when they were sitting down in the restaurant Liam choose. It was a small diner and Harry was glad that they had salat. Greasy food just wasn’t Harry’s thing.

He sighed and poured the dressing over his salad.

“It’s all my fault, Li. I was acting weird earlier and he hates me know. I’m sure. I even lied to him!” Harry bit anxiously on his lip and looked down at his salad.

“Hey calm down Haz. He’s pretty chill and he won’t hate you. What did you even do?” Liam squeezed his shoulder, which comforted the younger boy.

“We did some work together and then he said he was hungry and said he’d order something and- and then he asked me if I wanted something right? And I don’t know why but I felt weird and felt like it would be overstepping boundaries- which I know is completely dumb right? He just asked me if I wanted to eat something not if I wanted to marry him. He didn’t even said that we would have to eat it together so I was just overreacting and I said no. And that I needed to do some work.” Harry took a deep breath and started up at Liams teddy bear eyes, that were comforting him.

“And then I texted you and asked you if you wanted to go out because, you know I was hungry and because I thought he would order himself he would be in his office. But then he was standing in front of the elevator and it was so uncomfortable. I need this job Li!”

Liam chuckled which made Harry glare at him. 

“Haz he’s not gonna fire you just because you didn’t want to have lunch with him. Like I said, he’s probably the chillest boss you could ask for and he probably just wanted to be nice. Don’t worry so much about it.”

“But Li-“

“Haz, believe me, everything’s fine. Eat your salat.” Harry did as he was told and after a while they fell into a conversation where they planned what they could do the next weekend.

Harry could forget everything for a while but as soon as he hugged Liam goodbye in the elevator his thought came bashing down on him.

He went straight into his office and started to work on some paperwork he had to do. 

He blended everything else out, trying his best to focus on the numbers and statistics.

A sudden knock on the door startled him and ripped him out of his concentration. 

“Yes?” He watched as the door opened and blue eyes met his. He cleared his throat as he saw his boss. His mind already started to make up a scenario. Harry gulped as the door was closed and Mr Tomlinson made his way over to him.

“May I?” He looked at the chair that was in front of Harry’s desk and Harry nodded.

“Of course.” He cleared his throat again and wiped his hands on his jean clad thighs.

“I wanted to apologise. Didn’t want to make you uncomfortable I honestly just thought you looked hungry and thought we could eat together. Because I hate it to eat alone. Makes me feel sad and I feel like we get along so.. yeah. But I swear I wasn’t trying anything. It was completely friendly. But I obviously respect your boundaries.”

And okay, that was the last thing Harry expected. His mouth was slightly open and he blinked a few times before he came back to his senses.

“No!” Mr Tomlinson furrowed his brows and tilted his head slightly. Harry sighed because what was going on with him. 

“I mean no, you don’t. I have to apologise because I acted rude and I swear I’m not I respect you sir! It’s just sometimes I act before I think and my mind was making up these weird scenarios- I can’t help that it just happens. Can happen anytime really. It’s very weird and that was what happened earlier and afterwards I felt so stupid because of course it was just a friendly offer and I really didn’t want to be rude.” He looked down at his hands and bit his lip.

“Oi, don’t worry Harry. Next time just tell me alright? I like honesty. It’s better then lying and I can help more if you’re honest with me. It’s important that you’re honest or else this whole thing won’t work. I need to trust you and I need you to trust me as well and building trust needs honesty. Alright?”

“Yeah alright. I’m really sorry.” The older man huffed but smiled and stood up.

“Now come with me, we need to plan a few things for the upcoming weeks.” Harry followed him.

“We can sit on the couch. I don’t really feel like sitting at the desk right now.”

Harry left enough space between him and the older man and waited for his instructions.

“I want to go through my appointments for the next two weeks. Can you please read them to me?”

Harry pulled the calendar out on his laptop and nodded.

“Uhm... so tomorrow are two meetings one at 7 am and the other at 5 pm. The rest of the day is free but you wanted to go to the R&D department. Check on them.”

“On Wednesday you have another meeting this time at 11 am and your dogs need to be picked up from Ms Calder at 4 pm.” The older man groaned at that but nodded.

“Thursday and Friday are pretty much free you just need to get over some emails and paperwork. You have an invitation for a donation gala on Friday night. Do you want to go or should I cancel it?”

“To who go the donations?”

“Animals that were hurted in the fires in the rainforest.”

“So I should go?”

“It’s good for you’re image Sir.” Harry shrugsshoulders. He never attended any kind of gala but he thought they sounded like fun and in the end they were for a good cause.

“So what, You’re saying my image’s bad?” He cocked an eyebrow. Harry’s eyes got big.

“No, not at all sir. You have a great image! One of the best in England! I didn’t want to-“

“Harry relax lad. I was just kidding.” The older men rolled his eyes playing annoyed. Harry sighed and relaxed.

“Sorry Sir.”

“Don’t have to apologise. Can I bring someone?” Harry looked back at the invitation and nodded when he saw the  plus one . 

“Great then tell them I attempt with a plus one. Which would be you. I hate when I have to go alone to these.” Harry nodded and did that quickly.

“It’s fine with you right?”

“Sure. After all it’s just for work. And I never attended a gala so it sounds like fun.”

“It’s not though. It’s boring and you need a lot of alcohol if you want to make it through the evening.” He rolled his blue eyes and Harry chuckled.

“I always imagined it beautiful.” Harry shrugged with his shoulders.

“Well you’ll see it on Friday and then you tell me. Maybe I was wrong all along.” The younger boy nodded enthusiastically, his green eyes sparkly with excitement. 

“Okay your Saturday is for the most part free you just need to go grocery shopping and-“

“Why does that stand in there? Don’t I have someone who does that for me?” He interrupted Harry.

“Uhm... yeah Mr Campbell, your chef, usually does that but he’s on vacation right now.”

“Of course. So grocery shopping. Fun.” His voice was thick with sarcasm and Harry laughed a little.

“It can be fun though. You get to think about all the meals you’re going to cook and you find new stuff and get inspired.”

“For that you actually need to be able to cook and I’m not. There’s a reason why I have a personal chef. But I’ll survive.”

“Sunday is completely free. And on Monday you have three meetings as well as one phone conference. Two of the three meetings are start ups, that introduce their products to you and the other one is with Walgreens. They are at 7:30 am, 12 am, 5 am and the phone conference is at 10 pm since their with Owens&Minor and they are based in America.”

“I hate Mondays. Can’t we reschedule one of them?”

“Never mind I need to do them nevertheless.” His boss said before he even could open his mouth.

“Thursday is filled with paperwork, paperwork and paperwork and you wanted to check in the Accounting and Finance department.”

“Wednesday is your sisters birthday and she’ll celebrates it on Friday where you have only one meeting by the way. And on Thursday are just two presentations that you need to listen to. Your sister also called Mrs Davey and told her that she ordered cake in your name so it needs to be fetched before the party.”

“Oh man. And when do I have to give the dogs back?”

“In three weeks sir. That’s when Ms Calder will be back.”

“Okay.... okay. Do you have a suit? For Friday?”

“I have a blue one. If that’s okay?”

“Yeah, of course. I let someone pick you up at 7 pm alright?” Harry nodded and wrote is down.

“How long is my chef away?” 

“Two weeks sir.”

“Ugh, I’m not gonna survive this long without food.” The older man threw his jeans back on the couch and closed his eyes.

“It’s easy I promise. I can write down some very easy recipes and you can still order something.”

“Didn’t Mr Payne said you only eat disgustingly healthy food? I like my food unhealthy.” Harry rolled his eyes because the 28 year old man acted like a child.

“I don’t eat disgustingly healthy food. You can’t judge it if you haven’t tried it. Liam just thinks he’s allergic to vegetables or something I don’t know.” The curly boy laughed a little and looked outside the window.

It was raining because they’re in London and rain seems to be the only weather that this city knows.

“Okay Harold write down your magic recipes I let you know if I died because it was too healthy. Are you like a vegan?”

“My names not Harold and no I’m not. I promise it tastes good.”

“Are you a vegetarian?” Harry sighed.

“Yes I am but that doesn’t change anything about my recipes. They’re still good.

“Sure they do Harold. These are big words that are coming out of you mouth. But I’ll let you know. If they taste like shit it’s your fault and you have to eat a pizza. A greasy one. And a burger. Oh and cocoa pops. You’re truly missing out on these.”

“You do know that I don’t have a problem with eating this? I just choose not to.”

“Yeah whatever. I don’t believe you. You’re just trying to chicken out.”

“No I’m not. You’ll see. Or y’know what? You wont because you’ll like my food.”

Mr Tomlinson laughed and held his hand up for Harry to shake.

“So it’s a bet?” Harry took the smaller hand.

“It’s a bet.” 

*

So Harry wrote multiple recipes down (his favourites that were the easiest to make) and handed them to his boss who looked at them with a blank expression. It was tactic, Harry knew. If Mr Tomlinson would give a reaction Harry knew he would’ve won or not so he just took them, looked swiftly through them and thanked the younger boy.

*

“Harry? I’m gonna go pick up the dogs and bring them back to my home. After that I’ll be back.” Mr Tomlinson, his boss was standing in his doorway. He looked stressed and exhausted.

“I can do that for you sir?” He offered with a light smile. At the end of the day it was his job to do things like that for him and yet the older man never made him do things that weren’t really work related.

“No, it’s fine. I don’t want you to be alone with this woman. She’s a proper bitch.” Harry furrowed his brows in confusion. He hadn’t really thought much about Ms Calder or what role she played in his bosses life but he assumed that they were friends or more due to her having his dogs.

“Y’know what? I don’t want to be alone with her as well. Take your stuff we’re going together. We can eat on the way back.” Harry nodded and quickly scrambled his things together before he followed his boss to the elevator.

“Susan? Me and Harry are going to pick up the dogs. We’ll be back later but you can go home in an hour.” He screamed through the hall and Harry kind of flinched at the sudden screaming.

It was normally so quiet on this floor that he didn’t expect that.

“Okay, bye you two.” The elevator door opened and they made their way to the garage.

Harry followed his boss to his car, got into the passenger seat when they arrived at the black jeep and put his seatbelt on.

Mr Tomlinson got into the driver seat and quickly started the car. It was quite a hot day so he turned the air conditioner on.

Harry smiled when he heard the 80s tunes coming from the radio. He rested his elbow on the door and let his hand hold his head up.

He was tired, had only a few hours of sleep because Niall was over at his flat and the Irish guy really loved to talk and didn’t have to work today.

Harry squeezed his eyes tightly and opened them again, hoping that would wake him up a little bit. It didn’t.

They drove for about 20 minutes until the car came to a halt. It was a quiet drive but it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence.

Harry was just tired and not really chatty and Mr Tomlinson seemed to be deep in thought was well.

“Okay here we are.” He heard the older man sigh and followed him out of the car. They were parking in front of quite the big house. Harry was impressed. The house he grew up in wasn’t even half as big as this one.

“It’s a huge house.”

“And she doesn’t deserve one inch of it.” The man beside him mumbled. Harry turned around to him in confusion. 

“What?”

“Nothing, doesn’t matter.If you’re impressed by that, then my house is going to drive you crazy.”

“Is it bigger then this?” He asked as Mr Tomlinson pressed the doorbell. The older man hummed and nodded.

“Way bigger.” Harry’s mouth hung open at that.

He noticed that his boss was still pressing on the doorbell but didn’t say anything. The door was suddenly ripped open which made him jump back in surprise.

“God Louis, stop it!” Holding the door open was a tall, brown haired women who was beautiful. Her face was showing annoyance towards Harry’s boss.

“Sorry Love, just wanted to make sure that you would hear me.” He pressed the doorbell again (just for good measurement) and smiled sarcastically.

The women rolled her eyes.

“Fuck you Louis.” Harry watched the whole spectacle with big eyes.

“Yeah I would but I have standards.” Ms Calderglared at him and then her gaze went to Harry and she looked him up and down.

“And who are you love?” She smiled sweetly at him which was a complete change of character and Harry was honestly confused. 

“God Eleanor don’t talk to him like he’s some small kid!” Harry looked back to his boss who was also looking at him.

“I was literally just asking who he was Louis not if he wanted a cookie. Get over yourself!”

“You made that voice you do when you talk to children.” Harry felt like he was watching his parent fight and he didn’t like it at all but he also wasn’t in a position where he would step in. He didn’t know if he wanted to roll himself up and cry or run away. He hated hated hated fights.

“You treat him like a child when you don’t even let him answer a simple question!”

“Bloody hell, you are so annoying! Can’t believe I still put up with you.” Eleanor scoffed at that and rolled her eyes.

“What the fuck Louis I didn’t do anything just wanted to know his name!” She turned to Harry, her face turning into a smile again.

“‘M Harry.” He said quietly and gave her a tense smile.

“Hello Harry, I’m Eleanor.” She stepped forward and held her hand for Harry to take which he did hesitatingly.

“Can you please get the dogs. Some of us here got work to do.” She puckered her lips and let go of Harry’s hand.

“Yeah, wait here.” She turned around and left inside of the house.

“‘Ello Harreh, I’m elevator. Stupid, annoying bitch.” His boss mocked her which made Harry laugh out loud.

“She’s not that bad right?”

“She’s manipulative, that’s what she is.” Seconds later Eleanor appeared again and two dogs were happily jumping up his bosses legs. 

“Don’t forget to walk them three times a day and give them water and feed them and-“

“Yeah, I got. It’s not the first fucking time that they are with me. They’re my dogs after all.”

“They’re our dogs and I love them so better take care of them.”

“Wow didn’t know you could feel an emotion like that.”

“Bye Harry, it was nice to meet you.” Harry smiled and waved softly. Then the door was shut again.

“Cliff, Bruce meet Harry!” He said in an exciting voice and pointed to the younger boy. The two dogs immediately turned around and walked up to Harry, their tails happily wagging around.

They jumped up his legs which made Harry laugh and he petted them behind their ears. 

“Which ones which?” Harry looked up again to his boss who watched the situation with a happy smile.

“Cliffords the black one and Bruce’s the brown one.” He whistled after that and the dogs were immediately sitting by his side.

“Good Boys.” He rubbed their heads quickly and then walked over to his car again where he opened the back door. Both dogs immediately attempted to jump in which led to them colliding against each other. Both men laughed at that.

“Oi stupid Boys. Cliff you first.” He waited before he told Bruce the same.

Harry got in the passengers seat again and waited for his boss to drive them away.

“Is it okay if we just get something from Starbucks?”

“Yeah sure.” Starbucks had coffee and even though Harry didn’t like coffee, he’s sure he would fall asleep in the next hour if he wouldn’t get some caffeine in his blood system.

*

Mr Tomlinson wasn’t lying when he said that his house was bigger. It wasn’t even a house anymore it was a fucking mansion.

Harry’s mouth was hanging ajar and he blinked slowly. It was a beautiful house but it was way too huge for just one person.

“How many people live here?”

“Just me.” And what? Harry would feel lonely in such a big house alone.

“You get used to it. I don’t even use half of the rooms so I just pretend they don’t exist and it doesn’t feels as big anymore. And when Bruce and Cliff are here you can’t feel lonely.” He seemed to have read Harry’s thoughts and opened the door for them.

The interior design was beautiful, everything was kept in white and brown tones and Harry really liked it. There were art pieces and photos hanging on the door and the younger boy smiled at the fairy lights that were hanging around the walls. 

That was only the living room though. He’d love to see everything in this house, he’s always been a curious boy.

He sipped on his coffee (it hadn’t helped yet) and let his eyes wander around the room more. 

There was a huge tv hanging on one of the walls, facing a big couch with lots of pillows and blankets on it.

One of the walls had a glass door, which led to a garden. Harry made a pool and flowers out.

“It’s beautiful.” He spoke his thoughts and turned around to face his boss who shrugged with his shoulders.

“It’s alright. I bought it like that and was too lazy to change it.”

“Well, I like it a lot. Especially the fairy lights.” Louis chuckled.

“Yeah, these are from me. I don’t know why but I like how they look. It’s comfy.” Harry nodded.

“I probably won’t have enough time to walk the dogs everyday next week so I’m gonna need you for that. They are very well behaved and you just have to let them out into the garden basically. That alright with you?”

“Yeah, as long as they don’t try to kill me or anything I’m fine with dogs.”

“Oi, they’re not going to kill you. They’re two big balls of pure fluff and they are also curly so that’s one thing you can bond over.” The older man said with a teasing tone and a big smile on his face. 

Harry liked this smile a lot. It reminded him of the sun in a way.

“Ha-ha very funny.” He pouted and turned around again.

“I’m gonna give you a spare key and the code to my security system. Come on.” 

Harry followed the older man into an office where he got a piece of paper with a six digit number and a key which he quickly attached to his keychain. He folded the paper and put it in his wallet.

They left the house -mansion- shortly after that and made their way back to the office. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think xx


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oi oiiiiiiiiiii

Harry decided to put on the blue suit, that he bought for his graduation. He didn’t know if he was supposed to wear a tie or not and decided to not wear one. 

He gave himself a once over in his mirror and when he was pleased with the way his hair he put on his shoes. 

He was nervous and excited for today and wanted to make the best out of it. When he was younger he always wanted to attend fancy balls and always dreamed of becoming a prince. He knew that today wasn’t a real ball, not even close to a ball but it was still something fancy and he wanted to enjoy it. 

The doorbell rang, which was Harry’s sign to leave his flat and make his way outside where he would be picked up. 

He quickly grabbed his phone, keys and wallet and locked the door behind him. When he made his way down. In front of him was a Limousine and a man was standing in front of it. 

Harry furrowed his brows slightly but made his way over to it. 

“Mr Styles.” The back door was opened for him and he smiled as he made his way inside the car. 

“Thank you.” And the door was closed with a nod from the man. 

Harry took his surroundings in. The seats were comfortable and there was enough space for at least 5 people or more. I’m the sides were glasses and champagne and everything was lit up with purple neon lights. He let his eyes roam over the inventory of the car until they were met with beautiful ocean blue eyes that belong to no other than his boss. 

“Hey Harry. Everything alright?” His voice was scratchy and soft and the older man looked kind of mysterious in the dark lightning of the car. 

“Yes Mr Tomlinson, just didn’t expect this!” He made a gesture with his hands. His boss laughed and nodded. 

“Yeah I know. But the press is going to be there and the organisers of today’s gala send this so can’t really say no right?” 

“I suppose not.” Harry shrugged with his shoulders and leaned back in his seat. The windows of the car were tinted and let no daylight through so Harry could hardly look out of it. 

“Do you want to drink something? We have whiskey and champagne.” He eyed the glass in Me Tomlinsons hand, which he didn’t saw before and figured that the he was drinking whiskey out of an expensive looking glass. 

“Whiskey sounds nice.” Harry smiled and watched as his drink was made. 

He was more of a cocktail guy if he was honest but that wasn’t an option. He took the glass and let it clink against Mr Tomlinsons. 

“You can call me Louis by the way. You don’t have to say Mr Tomlinson all the time. Makes me feel old.” 

“I’m sorry, sir.” 

“Yeah and that should stop too unless were in the bedroom together.” And if Harry almost spat his entire drink or at that then that’s none of you business. 

His cheeks were burning and he looked with big eyes to Mr Tom- Louis. His _boss_. His boss who just- was that flirting? Harry didn’t know. 

There was a big smirk on Louis’ face and he eyes Harry’s reaction to his comment. Before the younger boy could’ve answered, the limousine came to a halt and the door was opened. 

Louis was the first one to get out of the car, Harry shortly behind him and while his boss gave a big smile for the camera his eyes were trained to the floor and he really hopes that his hair was hiding the redness of his cheeks. 

They made their way inside of the building and Harry stayed close to his boss-  _ Louis  _ because there were already so many people in the entrance and the last thing he wanted was losing the only person he knew at this place. 

Harry felt awkward as he followed Louis to a women who asked for their names and then gave them small wristbands that looked similar like the ones you would get at a festival. 

„Don’t lose them or else you won’t be able to come in again. Have a nice evening.“ The women smiled a bit to brightly at them and they made their way into the big location. 

He didn’t had the time to look around because the moment they were stepping into the room, Louis was pressing him a champagne glass into his hands. 

“Believe me, you need it.” He said and again, clinked their glasses together before taking a big sip of it. 

“It can’t be that bad.” Harry repeated his words again and looked around. 

The room had a yellow tint from the lightning and was mostly held in white and greens. 

“You’ve never attended a gala.” The older man argued and looked around. Soft music was playing but it was drowned out by the chatter from the guest. 

“It’s still for a good purpose.”

“Yeah I suppose it is.” Harry noticed how the older man stiffened and clenched his jaw but decided to ignore it. 

“So how does all of this work?” He let his eyes wander around the room, men and women all dressed fancy and chatting happily. All of them had some sort of drink in their hands. 

“Well at events like these are many business people and they try to make some good deals so there’s always time for that. At one point there will be a big speech and presentation about the organisation and for what the donations are being used. And then there’s more talking and in the end you give a check to the front.” Louis explained to him and emptied his glass. Harry’s was still half full. 

“If you want it to be a fun night, you need to step up your drinking game a little bit.” The older man laughed after he saw Harry’s flute. 

“I don’t need to be drunk to have fun. Besides I don’t think that it is very appropriate do be drunk at such an event.” Harry mumbled and sipped on the champagne. 

“It doesn’t matter if you’re drunk or not. No one cares.” He waved a waiter over and ordered whiskey and two shots. 

When the waiter came back Louis tipped him and grabbed the whiskey glass. Harry’s glass was now empty as well and he craved water but he didn’t say anything. 

“Here,” he handed Harry one of the shot glasses and smiled mischievously at him. The clinked them together and Harry tilted his head back when he drowned the clear liquid. 

It stung horribly and he grimaced at how strong it was. 

“What was that?” He asked, disgust swinging in his voice and Louis let out a laugh. 

“Not a Fan?” Harry shook his head no and put the small glass down on the table in front of them. 

“I think it was some very strong vodka. Want another one?”

“No, god no!” Harry quick replied and grimaced. 

“Ah Mr Tomlinson, nice to see you, I haven’t seen you in while.” A man, who seemed to be around 50 years approached them and shook Louis hand, squeezing his shoulder with the other one. Behind him a women who seemed to be around the same age. 

“‘ve been proper busy. Mrs Matthews a pleasure to meet you again.” He gently shook the lady’s hand and smiled at her. 

“Well I’m glad you’re here now, I wanted to talk to you about something... work related.” The man said and acknowledged Harry for the first time. 

“Privately.” Harry would roll his eyes if he wouldn’t have respect for people older then him. 

Louis noticed the look Me Matthews gave Harry and stepped a little aside. 

“If I may introduce, this is Harry Styles, my personal assistant.” He smiled lightly and shook the hands that were offered him. 

“Do you mind having a quick chat with me?” Mr Matthews turned to Louis again. Harry was confused on why he kept everything so secretive when all he wanted to talk about was probably business stuff and that’s what most of the people here did anyway. 

“If it is something important you can give me a call on Monday and we’ll arrange a meeting. I’m sure that’s not a problem?” Louis said and his voice was hard and didn’t allow any contradicton. 

“Of course. I’m looking forward to it. Have a nice evening.” The man didn’t seem to be happy with Louis words his voice was disgruntled and he took his wife by her waist and left them alone. 

“Arsehole!” Louis mumbled under his breath and turned to Harry again. 

“He seemed...nice.“ Harry tried even though he didn’t mean it. Not really at least. Louis scoffed and nodded his head. 

„Yeah,  nice .“ 

„Mr Tomlinson, it’s nice to see you again. I’ve just read an article the other day about how well you’re last investment turned out. You always seem to invest in the right 

companies.“ In front of them were now three other men, all in suits and with glasses in their hands. 

Louis quickly shook all of their hands and Harry did so too after they turned expectingly towards him. 

„Thank you. It’s been going good lately.“ 

„Yeah, that reminds me of an offer I wanted to make you...“ the left one, a grey haired man in way older then the rest of them said. Harry seriously was questioning why he hasn’t retired yet. 

With a blink of an eye all three men were talking at him. All of them having different ideas for working together and making deals. Harry couldn’t really keep up with all of what they were saying and he felt like his mind was swaying when Louis interrupted them. 

„Gentlemen, I really like your ideas so far but I’m sure y’all wouldn’t mind if we hold the discussions for the office.” The came to an abrupt halt and looked startled. 

His boss was giving them a smile that delivered the message of  better so what I say. 

“Yeah, that sounds brilliant, I have my assistant give you a call so we can arrange something.” 

“Of course. It was nice to see you.” He nodded in the group and then turned to Harry while the other three man walked away, quickly starting a discussion. 

“It’s not going to stop for the whole evening.” Harry’s eyes widen at that. 

“That’s... annoying.”

“Yeah, can be. I once made a game out of it, drinking a shot every time someone wanted to offer me a deal. Worst hangover I ever had in my life!” Harry giggled-  giggled at that. And what the fuck is going on with him?

“How much did you drink that night?” 

“Honestly, I can’t remember anything. It’s one complete blackout. The last thing I remember is going to the toilet and call my best mate so he would come and get me. I think we drank a lot more after that because he was pretty hungover as well when he woke up.”

Louis laughed at the memory of that and Harry smiled.

“I never was wasteful drunk. Always just tipsy.” The green eyed boy shrugged at his words.

“But isn’t like the whole purpose of university to get wasted and then throw everything up just to get wasted again?” 

“Not for me. It’s kind of scary when you can’t control yourself anymore. I just made sure that my friends were alright. Took them home after and took care of them, as best as I could.”

“You’re really missing out on something. I’m not saying that you should get so pissed, that you can’t remember anything but you should get drunk enough to have a bad hangover and regret all your life choices at least once.”

“Doesn’t make sense. Why would I want to make me feel shitty on purpose?”

“It’s just fun to be drunk. Everything’s different and funny. But you did smoke a blunt at one point right?” Harry shook his head no and felt his cheeks turning red. 

“Oi, cute! Nothing to be embarrassed of though. It’s probably better for your own health if you don’t drink and smoke.”

Harry didn’t say anything to that. He didn’t mind getting drunk or high it’s just that he was always scared to do it. Scared to loose control. 

*

Louis didn’t lie when he said that it wouldn’t stop. They were constantly interrupted and Harry didn’t expect it to be so boring. 

The younger boy also stuck to water after the shot he had and when it was time for the speech he felt like falling asleep. 

“I’ve won.” His boss whispered quietly from where he was next to Harry. 

“What did you win?” He asked, voice quiet and tired- don’t judge him it was also getting late and Harry usually had a going to bed at 9:30 pm rule. That didn’t count when he was out with the lads but then he had fun and didn’t felt the time slipping away. 

“Our bet. You said you would enjoy it and you clear don’t.” Louis said with a calm voice and sipped on his whiskey. 

“Oh, yeah... I’ve forgotten about it.” Harry had to suppress a yawn. 

“Hmm, I could tell but I’ve still won and you owe me!” The older man hummed. 

“What? No I don’t! We’ve never said that.” Harry argued, his voice getting a little bit louder so that some people were turning around to him. 

“Shh. Besides isn’t the whole point behind a bet that the winner gets something?”

“I guess so.” He sighed after a few moments. 

“Perfect. Now c’mon, let’s get out of here.” 

“But aren’t we supposed to listen to the speech and then donate something?” Harry argued and didn’t move from his spot. 

“We don’t have to listen to the whole thing, c’mon now. I can donate something now. There are no rules that say you can’t donate before the speech is over.” Harry hadn’t anything to argue against that so he just followed the man outside. 

Louis quickly wrote a check and gave it to the women who also greeted them and then went over to Harry again. 

“C’mon, let’s wait outside.” Harry followed Louis outside. It was still very warm but now and then a small breeze would appear. 

Harry looked up at the sky. It was empty beside for the moon but they were no stars. Harry would like to see them now. 

“What’s going on inside your head?” He let his gaze fall down to Louis who had a cigarette in his left hand. The older man held the package open for Harry to take one too but he declined it. 

Harry knew he smoked, learned that pretty early and the man would always offer him one but Harry always declined. Smoking was bad. Smoking killed and that’s not what Harry was about really. 

“Just thinking about the stars. I wish I would see them more often but since I moved to London- I don’t know I guess I just miss them.” He mumbled. 

“From where are you?” Louis knew, he had read the name of the town when he looked at Harry’s resume but couldn’t remember it. 

“Cheshire. It’s near Manchester.” The younger boy explained and leaned against the building. It was still warmed up from the sun that was shining on it all day. 

Louis hummed at that and took a drag of his cigarette. 

“The city life can be quite... overwhelming. I miss home a lot.” He explained with an husky voice. Harry’s knees felt week. Because he was tired. Obviously. 

“When did you move here?” It was obvious that Louis wasn’t from London. His heavy accent gave him away. 

“Shortly before I started university. Like with 18 or 19 I believe. Sometime around that.”

“So you don’t require London you’re home?”

“Never thought about it but I guess not. Not anymore I think it was home when I was still with Eleanor but that is years ago. We split up three years ago and I would cut her out of my life but were both to stubborn to give the dogs up. And it may not seem like that but the break up was mutual but I think with her I lost the feeling of being at home in London.” 

“I always thought that home wasn’t a place but more a person or a feeling. If that makes sense.” Harry cleared his throat and looked up again. 

“It does. Weirdly enough but it makes a lot of sense. I guess I just haven’t found my person yet.” Louis blue eyes were heavy on Harry and he gulped. 

“Can’t be that hard to find someone with how successful and desired you are.” And simply like that the conversation turned from something deep to something lighter. 

“I’m desired?” Louis cocked an eyebrow and crossed his arms. 

“Uhm... yeah? I mean that’s what the press always says right? You’re one of London’s most desired bachelor. Every girl wants you. You’re adored from girls and looked up to by boys. So yeah, you’re desired.” Harry explained, cheeks flushing red and redder with every word. 

Louis smirked and nodded. 

“And what about you?” 

“Me?” Harry shrieked, voice high at his eyes shot up to meet Louis’. 

“Yeah you. What’s your opinion?”

“I don’t- I don’t know. You’re my boss.” 

“Okay but right now I’m not. What do you think about me?”

“I-I... you-“ Harry was saved by the car that pulled up in front of them and sighed in relief. 

The door was opened for them and Harry slid in before Louis. 

“Someday, I want an answer to that.” He said quietly and Harry just nodded with flushed cheeks. 

It was quiet the drive to get to Harry’s flat and he found himself leaning his head against the window letting the moving from the car lull him into sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think xx


	4. Chapter 4

“Niall? Liam? What the fuck?” Harry looked up from his bed where he was peacefully sleeping just seconds ago but got woken up by loud voices. His own voice was still raspy and layered with sleep. 

“See you idiot you woke him up!” Liam slapped Niall on his neck. 

“Well I wasn’t the one who walked against the fucking door now was I?” Niall argued back and crossed his arms. 

“Yeah but that wasn’t as loud as your fucking voice. Someone apparently didn’t learn how to whisper!”

“Guys-“ the youngest boy tried but was over talked. 

“I do know how to whisper you cunt and besides you were the one who stumbled over fucking air. Like since when it is so hard to walk straight?” 

“Well I couldn’t watch where I was going because I needed to remind you to keep your fucking voice down!” 

Harry slumped down in his pillow pulled his blanket over his head. He closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep again but after a few moments two body’s fell on top of him. 

“Hazza wake up!” Niall pulled the blanket from his head and Harry opened his eyes. 

His best friends readjusted themselves so that Harry was laying in the middle of them, still under the covers. 

“I’m awake. Couldn’t really sleep over your arguing.” 

“It’s Niall fault.” 

“No it’s not! It’s Liams!” Harry groaned and hid his face in the crook of his elbow. 

“I hate both of you. What do you even do here? The key I gave you is for emergencies.”

It wasn’t the first time that Niall and Liam randomly would wake Harry up with stupid excuses as to why they’re here and Harry was used to it but he still complained. The green eyed boy loved his sleep more then anything and it got interrupted way to often for his liking. 

“We wanted to get breakfast but we couldn’t decide and you’re breakfast is always the best. We even went grocery shopping for you!” Niall explained and grinned at him. 

“You planned that didn’t you?”

“Well-  duh .” Liam stated and got up from the bed. 

“Please make us breakfast, please!” Niall begged, dragging the pleases out. 

“Yeah just... give me ten minutes to shower and wake up.” 

Niall and Liam high fived each other and cheered. It was childish and Harry rolled his eyes. 

“Go on the couch and watch tv. Don’t annoy me!” Harry shouted as they made their way out of his bedroom. 

“We could never!“ Niall screamed back and Harry smiled to himself. He loved his best friends. 

He got out of bed and walked into his en-suite bathroom where he turned on the shower. He adjusted the temperature and stepped into the shower. The warm water helped him wake up and he quickly washed himself. 

When he was done he brushed his teeth while putting on some joggers and a T-shirt. 

He tried to dry his hair as good as possible with the towel. He never blow dried it, liking it more how his curls fell around his ears when he let them air dry. 

With his hair still damp he stepped out of his bedroom and got into the kitchen where he quickly started to make breakfast with the groceries Niall and Liam brought with them. 

He made everything from waffles to scrambled eggs and bacon and then made smoothies and poured orange juice in glasses. 

When Harry did something, he made sure to do it right. 

“Breakfast’s ready.” He shouted into the living room and within a blink Liam and Niall where sitting on the kitchen table loading their plates full with the food he prepared. 

Harry rolled his eyes fondly and sipped his smoothie, not being able to eat so soon after having just woken up. 

They dived into happy chatter and Harry finally got to talk about the gala he went to last week. 

“Fell asleep in the car though. That was kind of embarrassing.” He told them cheeks turning pink at the memory of Louis carefully shaking him awake. The words  _wake up love, we’re her_ e, where still sending shivers down his spine. 

Harry wasn’t dumb though. He knew that these words meant nothing, it was a common pet name used by everyone and for everyone all around England but he couldn’t help it. 

Louis was a good looking man, Harry couldn’t deny that but for all he knows, the last relationship his boss was in, was with a women so the chances that he’s gay or likes man after all were low. 

“You’re fine Haz. It was an exhausting day after all and you always fall asleep in the car no matter what time of the day.” Liam interrupted his train of thoughts, which Harry was thankful for. 

He needed this job more then anything, needed the money more then anything. 

So he needed to make sure that they kept their relationship formal. 

“Yeah, I suppose.” He sighed and ate some of the fruit he cut earlier. 

“But it’ good, yeah? The job helps?” Liam asked softly with a bit of worry swinging in his voice. 

Harry’s gaze went down and he nodded. 

“Yeah, it does. A lot actually.” 

“That’s good.” Niall said with a sad smile which Harry returned. 

“Yeah.” 

A heavy silence set over them but was interrupted by Harry’s phone ringing. 

When he saw that it was Louis he excused himself and walked into his bedroom. 

“Hi Louis.” 

“Hey Harry, I know you don’t work today but I really need help. Can you make it to the office in an hour?”

Harry looked in the way of his kitchen where he could hear Liams and Nialls voices. 

“Sure. I’ll be there.” He said with a small smile. 

“Great! And can you please bring something for breakfast? I’m starving. And coffee or tea. Or both actually.”

“Will be done.” He smiled and heard Louis sigh in relief. 

“Thank you so much. I’ll see you in an hour.” 

-

“Mr Harry Styles, out here saving the day.” Louis smiled when Harry opened the door and made grabby hands for the coffee cups he was carrying. 

Harry quickly set everything he had brought with him on the desk. 

“What’s that all?” Louis eyed the things Harry set down hungrily and Harry laughed. 

“Breakfast I made at home this morning. I made a little bit too much and thought why not bring it here? I can get something else if you’d like but I just thought that something home made would be nice.” Harry shrugged shyly and started to open the boxes in which he carried the food in. 

He brought some of the pancakes as well as some of the scrambled eggs along with a sandwich and a smoothie. 

“You’re an angel Harry. Thank you so much.” Louis dived into the food and hummed happily. 

“That’s actually really good!” The older man said and Harry blushed. 

“Thank you.” 

He sipped on his tea and tried to look away from Louis while he ate. He didn’t like being watched when he was eating alone so he didn’t want to make the man uncomfortable. 

“I’m sorry that I called you. I hope you didn’t had to cancel plans but I really don’t know where my head is.” His shoulders sagged and Harry noticed how exhausted and tired he looked. 

“It’s fine, it’s my job after all. Just tell me what you need me to do and I’ll do it.” Louis smirked at that and tilted his head teasingly, which made Harry realise what he said and how it could be interpreted. 

“Work... work related of course.” He mumbled and cleared his throat. 

“Of course.” Louis laughed a little and put the container he was holding in his hands down. 

He pointed to a pile of files. 

“This all came in yesterday and I already did a lot but it needs to be done this evening and I wouldn’t be able to do that.” Harry eyed the pile and nodded. 

“Yeah it’s still a lot.” He stood up from where he was sitting and took some of the files. 

“I get started on these and you finish your breakfast.” He wanted to go into his own office but was stopped by his boss. 

“C’mon, stay here, keep me company.” 

“Oh... uhm sure, yeah.” Harry smiled and sat down again. He pulled his laptop out of his bag and quickly started on his work. 

After some time Louis was finished with the food and cleared the desk before grabbing a file as well and starting on it. 

They worked in silence, only the tapping of their keyboards made a sound and Harry smiled happily when he was done with the first file. 

He added it to the pile of  _ already done  _ which was started by Louis. 

“Since when are you here?” He asked quietly into the room and grabbed the next file. 

“Didn’t leave yesterday.” Harry took a closer look, his boss looked tired and exhausted, the eye bags under his eyes were big. His clothes were creased and his hair messy and not styled in the usual spiky way that reminded Harry of a hedgehog. 

“You didn’t go home and sleep?” He sounded curious. 

“No. I wanted to finish this first but then I think I fell asleep on my desk and when I woke up it was 4 am so it wasn’t really worth it to go home.” The older man explained easily and looked up from his work. 

“Oh. You can take a nap if you want?” Harry’s voice was soft. Louis really looked like he would fall asleep any second. 

“No it’s fine. The coffee helps. I need to finish this first.” 

“I can wake you in an hour. It’s not- it’s not healthy for you if you don’t sleep and a power nap can do wonders. You can’t concentrate really without sleep.” The green eyed boy stated and Louis sighed. 

“It’s really no problem. I’d feel better if you would get some sort of rest. I’ll try to get as much work done as possible!” 

“Only for an hour though!” Louis said as he stood up and made his way to the couch. 

“Seriously Harry, I’m not going to let you do the work all on your own. So wake me in an hour!”

“Don’t worry. Just sleep or rest or whatever.” Harry smiled and Louis laid down. 

“You’re sure?” He asked once again and Harry rolled his eyes. 

“Wouldn’t have told ya if I wouldn’t be okay with it. Promise.” He says and turned back to his work. 

Louis sighed once again but closed his eyes. He was asleep not even a minute later. 

Harry quietly finished file after file and when the hour has passed he walked over to the couch. 

Louis was laying on his back, mouth slightly open and one of his arms was behind his head, while the other rested on his stomach. 

He looked peaceful and Harry didn’t want to disturb him yet so he walked back again. He knew just how exhausted you can be after being awake the whole night. 

They was only one file left by the time louis crept up behind Harry and scared the shit out of him. 

“You scared me!” Harry stated, palm pressed to his heart. His breathing was heavy and he was slightly hunched over in his seat. 

“Sorry, didn’t know you were so easily startled.” Louis laughed a little and ruffled Harry’s hair. As quick as it came it was over and Harry wasn’t even sure if that really happened. 

“You didn’t wake me though!” 

“Yeah, I wanted to but you were looking so tired earlier that I figured you needed to rest.” 

“Well, thank you it did help but it’s you’re fault if I can’t sleep tonight!” Louis smiled at him and Harry chuckled lightly. 

“I can live with that.” 

*

Harry was standing in front of the door that was way too familiar to him by now. It shouldn’t be but it was and he hated it. 

It felt like his mind was always running a thousand miles per hour but would come to a halt the moment he stepped through it. 

But it always took him time to enter the room. He needed to build the courage to open the door, to step into the room. The way too familiar door, leading to the way too familiar room. 

Honestly he just wanted to throw up. Or turn away and never think about this room again. Which would be so fucking selfish he hated himself for even thinking about it. 

But this room, contained his worst nightmare and biggest enemy. This room held a ticking time bomb and he couldn’t really stop it from exploding. 

He closed his eyes and then knocked before opening the door with a smile plastered to his face. 

“Hi mom.” He said softly and walked over to the hospital bed. 

“Hi baby. I’m so happy to see you here.” His mom smiled at him and he leaned down to hug her. She didn’t smell like her mom anymore. Smelled like hospital and sanitiser and sickness. 

“Yeah, I’m happy to see you too.” His voice was small and quavering but he held the tears back that were making their way to the surface. He tried to be as happy as possible when he visited his mom. 

It may sound stupid but he thought that maybe his happiness would rub off on her and help her, heal her. He wasn’t dumb though. 

It was cancer. Incurable lung cancer. Anne was diagnosed three years ago and in the beginning it wasn’t as bad. 

In the beginning their was a chance of healing and they had their hopes high. Too high because they shattered when the news came out that it was incurable. 

Harry was a mess when he heard the words. Tried arguing, tried to get them to make more tests. He screamed and cried and Gemma was there as well. 

Tears were streaming down her face as she watched her little brother break down. Anne walked over to Harry and put a hand on his shoulder. 

“Harry, baby. C’mon.” Her hand slipped down to his arm where she tugged lightly. 

Her son turned around and fell into her arms, letting out a broken  _mommy_. 

“I know baby. I know.” She kissed his forehead and held him close and then she opened his arm and Gemma slipped into her embrace as well. They all cried. 

The two years after that were spend with doctors appointments and Harry pressured her into testing every therapy there was. 

Anne was already at Peace with the fact that she would die but Harry wasn’t and even though it sometimes made her feel worse she went through everything. Chemo therapy and pills over pills over pills. 

Just to calm Harry down. Every time there was a new treatment Harry’s eyes had that glimmer of hope in them and it broke Anne’s heart. Because there was no hope left. 

Then, this year things were suddenly going down. Anne felt worse and worse and two months ago they said she wouldn’t leave the hospital anymore. 

“How are you my sweet boy?” She smiled weakly up at Harry and filled his cheeks caressing them softly with her thumbs. 

“‘M fine mom.” He leaned down again to kiss her cheek and then pulled a chair to her bed. 

“And your job? Is still everything good?” 

“It is. It’s very good. And I make a lot of money so I can start to pay off the hospital bills.” 

Anne’s heart clenched. Her youngest boy shouldn’t work to pay off her hospital bills. Not when he was still so young. 

“But you don’t over work yourself yeah? I’m gonna call Niall, make sure he takes care of my baby.” Harry rolled his eyes at her statement but still smiled. 

“Mom it’s fine, it really is. Lo- Mr Tomlinson is very nice and he probably pays me for more then I do. Niall doesn’t need to look after me.”

“I know. But you’re my little boy.”

“Gemma was here this week. She said you and her don’t talk as much anymore. Harry don’t let this break you apart please. I can’t live with the thought that my children don’t talk to each other. You two know better then that.” Anne looked Harry deep in the eyes and he nodded. 

“I call her. I just was busy and she’s always with her boyfriend. It’s hard mom but once you get home it’s gonna be better.” 

“Baby. We’ve talked about this. You remember?” Anne took Harry’s hand in hers and squeezed it. The young boy shook his curls. 

“I don’t want to believe it mom. I can’t. It would feel like giving you up and I can’t do that.” Harry reasoned and lates his other hand over Anne’s. 

She didn’t say anything to it. She didn’t know what to say so she just stroke his hand. 

“Tell me something about your work. And your boss. Mr Tomlinson, yeah? Good looking boy from what I saw.” Anne wiggled her eyebrows and Harry laughed a little. 

“It’s nice. I like it a lot. And Louis is nice too. He’s pretty chill and always wants the best for his employees. He’s a good lad.”

“First name basis yeah?” Anne teased him. 

“Yeah but it’s just because we work close together and it’s annoying to have to say his full name all the time.” He explained and Anne hummed, acting like she didn’t see the blush that has crept up Harry’s face and tinted his cheeks pink. 

They talked for a while and Harry left after a million  i love yous  and a promise to visit again later this week. He breathed out the air that he was holding, trying to get rid of the knot in his chest and the numb feeling. 

It didn’t left though is the things. It’s been there for three years and Harry doesn’t think it’ll ever go away. 

His hands were shaky but he didn’t allow the tears to spill over until he was sitting in the safe space of his new car. 

He loved his mom. So much it hurt. 

Harry let out quiet sobs and sniffles. After a while he wiped the tears away with the Palm of his hand and started the car. He was on autopilot while driving home, not really taking in any of his surroundings and the tears were still spilling over.

He hated it. 

He stepped into his flat and slumped down on his bed eventually falling asleep with red brimmed eyes and tears drying on his cheeks. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I’d really appreciate it if you would tell me your thoughts on the story.

Harry was currently sitting in a conference room, listening to the discussion that was going on. 

Louis was sitting next to him and quietly observed the discussion from his employees. 

When it got especially loud he stood up from his seat. 

“Enough! I want you to work together and come up with a solution. We’ll have a meeting next week.” He took his stuff and nodded for Harry to follow after him, what the younger boy quickly did with a small wave to the room. 

He watched his boss close his eyes and let out a big sigh as soon as they were in the elevator. 

“Is everything alright?” Harry asked quietly with a voice that’s higher than usual. 

“Yeah... yeah, just a lot right now.” Harry nodded. For the past week Louis has worked more than Harry ever saw him before and the younger boy would stay until his boss would send him home. 

Harry felt guilty when he saw just how tired Louis was the next day. 

“You should get some rest you know? You’ve been working too much.” Harry mumbled hoping it wouldn’t come over the wrong way. 

“Yeah I know. But there is no time right now with the deal and everything. I need to make sure that everything goes right.” 

They stepped out of the elevator and Harry followed Louis into his office where a young women was sitting in the desk. 

“There you are. I’ve been waiting here for an hour now.” The blonde girl spoke and jumped down from the desk. 

“Lotti?” Louis questioned and hugged, what Harry assumed was his younger sister when she walked over to them. 

“Lotti, Harry. Harry, Lotti.” Louis gestures between them and Harry gave Lotti his hand. 

“Nice to meet you Louis has told us a lot about you.” She smiled and Harry gave Louis a questioning side glare which was reminded with an eye roll and a shake with Louis head. 

“Well he talks a lot about you too.” It was true. One thing that Louis actually loved to talk about was his family. Harry loved listening to his stories because they were always good, had no bad plot to them. 

“What are you doing here Lots?” Louis asked as he walked over to his desk to put his stuff down. 

“It’s about mom. We’ve got into a fight and I want you to talk to her.” Lottie explained and slumped down in one of the chairs that were standing in from of Louis desk. 

“Uhm...I should... I should go. Leave you alone...yeah. Do you want a tea? Coffee?” Harry offered, sensing that this was more of an private discussion. 

“Yeah, make us two cuppas please.” Louis sighed looking obviously exhausted. 

“Yeah...sure...yeah.” Harry stumbled out of the room, the younger boy hated anything related to fights or tension so he was glad to be out of the room. 

He went into the small kitchen and started to prepare the two cups of tea making them both how Louis liked it. 

He sighed and knocked on the door before carefully opening it. 

“-not gonna help you on this! Moms right and you know that Lottie.”

“But Lou! It’s not fair and you’re the only one mom listens to!” 

“I don’t have time for this right now. You’re 17 and have to listen what mom says alright? She needs your help with the baby’s. Please Lottie you’re the oldest at home right now.”Harry put the two cups down on the desk, trying his hardest not to interrupt them. 

“Yeah, because you’re never there anymore. Because you always are working. I need you too you know? You’re my brother Louis but you wanna know something funny? Doesn’t feel like that anymore!” Lottie sniffled and stood up. 

“You don’t mean that Lottie, c’mon. I don’t-“ 

“You don’t have time I get it. Fuck toy Louis!” She muttered and turned around. Harry watched as Lottie stormed out of the room. 

“Can you please drive her to my house? And buy her something to eat.” Louis rubbed his face with his hands and looked back up to Harry. 

“Yeah sure. See you later.” 

“Harry? Stay with her for a bit, make sure she’s calmed down a bit. Distract her or I don’t know.” Louis sighed and Harry nodded. 

“Will do.” 

He quickly followed Louis’ sister and catches up to her at the lobby of the building. 

“Lottie wait!” He came to a halt next to her and took some deep breaths. He really needed to do some workouts. 

“Wha- oh Harry.” Her voice got softer when she noticed that it was Harry that was standing next to her. 

“Can I drive you to Louis’?” 

“I don’t need a babysitter it’s fine.” She crossed her arms over her chest and strayed to walk again. 

“Yeah, I know that’s not what I’m here for. Just driving you to Louis’ house or anywhere if you want. As long as you turn up at Louis house at one point. We can get something to eat and... and if you want you can let everything out on me? I won’t say anything you can just let it out.” He offered with a small smile. 

He knew from his own sister that sometimes just letting them talk and letting them talk everything off their chests could work wonders. 

“Yeah, if you insist.” She shrugged her shoulders and Harry smiled brighter at her. 

He hummed and nodded. 

“Yeah c’mon.” They made their way into the garage where he opened the passenger seat for her. 

“Oh thank you.” She looked surprised up at him and got into the car. 

“Boys nowadays don’t do that anymore,” Lottie said when Harry got into the car. 

“Do what?” 

“Open the door. For girls. The whole gentleman thing I guess.” 

“They do. Maybe you just haven’t met the right one yet.” He shrugged and drives them out of the garage. 

“Yeah maybe. You know Louis’ a dick.” He chuckled lightly at that but didn’t say anything. 

“I know that he’s old and has responsibilities and is this businessman but sometimes I don’t need the rich Louis but I need my brother Louis you know? I need the Louis who would always come up with the greatest ideas against boredom. But since he has his company he’s always absent and I miss him.” 

“So when I come to him and ask him that he talks to mom about her not grounding me I just want him to be my brother. The cool brother who would allow us to do shit. Not the brother that acts like my dad.” 

“Grounded, hmm?” Harry asked as he focused on the street. 

“I don’t understand mom. That’s why I came to Louis but that was apparently the wrong decision.” 

“You don’t have to answer but why were you grounded?” 

“I went partying on Friday. Instead of watching the twins. I ordered them pizza and made sure everything was alright. Phoebe and Daisy aren’t as young anymore. I figured they could watch the babies for a few hours. They were asleep so I figured it’d be no problem. Long story short, mom got super mad and grounded me and now I’m here.” She sighed and looked at Harry. 

“And Louis didn’t want to help you?” 

“No. Of course not. Because all he ever thinks and talks about is his stupid work.” She muttered. 

“Yeah, I understand. It can be... a lot.”

“Exactly! Look, I’m proud of him. Very proud he’s one of the most successful businessman in England but he needs to be reminded that he has a family as well.”

“Where do you want to eat?”

“McDonald’s, please.” Harry nodded and looked for the nearest McDonald’s. 

“Louis is very stressed right now. There is this new deal, that’s huge and it takes a lot of energy out of him. Have you tried talking to him about it?”

“I mean I told him, just now.”

“You two screamed at each other. That’s not the same. You need to talk in a friendly way. I’m sure if you tell him how you feel, he’s going to do something about it. He loves you a lot. He always tells me stories about all of you.”

“Can’t imagine he has time to think about us.”

“Yeah but he does. Whenever something reminds him of any of you, he smiles and tells me a story or why it reminded him of you.”

“Really?” Lottie a eyes were sparkling as she looked at Harry who nodded. 

“Yeah, really.” 

They quickly ordered their food and Harry parked so that they could eat in piece. 

“I don’t want to step to close but you’re moms probably right about your siblings y’know? I get that you want to go out and go on parties but leaving them alone isn’t the right solution, yeah? And I’m sure that you and your mom figure something out. Maybe a babysitter or I don’t know. Talk to her as well.” Harry explained while he munched on some fries. 

“I know that, what I did was wrong. I know but I just needed my brother to talk about it. To let me be mad at mom but he always gets full on dad mode. Which I understand y’know? Mom and him where alone and he practically raised us but-“ she cut herself of and groaned. 

“I get it and I’m sure Louis does to. Just talk to him.” He said simply. 

“Yeah, maybe I’ll do that. Thank you Harry. Like a lot. I think I needed to talk about it.”

“No problem. I’ll always listen.” Harry smiled and looked into the blue eyes. They were beautiful not as beautiful as Louis’ eyes but they were apparently all blessed with beautiful eye colours. 

*

“You should go home earlier tonight. I’ll finish everything.”

“No Harry, it’s too much I can’t let you do that alone.”

“It’s fine, I promise and I promised Lottie that you would be home before 8. She wants to talk with you.”

“And you need to listen to her.” Harry quickly added before Louis could say something. The older man now raised an eyebrow and looked at Harry. 

“Okay. Did you two plan something or...?”

“No, we just talked.” He smiled sheepishly and Louis rolled his eyes with a smile. 

“Sure.. well, don’t work too long. It’s not that much but don’t work too long yeah? And if Lottie kills me, it’s your fault. I’ll keep you updated.” He held a finger up, playing strict and Harry laughed. 

“Yeah, so that. But she won’t. She just wants to talk and you need to listen. Really listen.” Louis nodded. 

“See you tomorrow Harry.”

Later that night he got a single  _ Thank you  _ text from Louis too which he replied with a  _no problem_. 

Seems like Lottie and him figured something out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think xx


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story has already 38 Kudos and almost 600 reads which means a lot to me xx thank you so much xx
> 
> Also because yesterday’s chapter was really short, this chapter is longer and has around 6,000 words.

“Ah shit!” Harry’s head snatched up from his laptop and he looked at Louis with furrowed brows. 

“I’ve forgotten that I need to be in New York next week.” Louis groaned while Harry quickly opened his calendar. 

“You didn’t tell me about it. Why didn’t you say anything?” He asked and looked at the busy week his boss had coming. 

“I forgot it. Can you book flights? From morning to Saturday night. Are you free?” Louis looked up to him and Harry nodded. 

“I guess so, yeah.”

“Okay... okay that’s good. Thank you.” The blue eyed man looked actually relieved and Harry smiled. 

“Oh but book first class.” He quickly booked the flights and started to reschedule all the meetings Louis would have next week. 

“And a hotel of course. A good one close to Times Square. Two rooms.” Harry nodded and quickly followed his orders. 

“Okay, done.” 

“Thank you. Have you ever been to New York?” 

“No I never left England. We didn’t have that much money so yeah...” he trailed off. 

“Yeah, before all this,” he made a circular motion with his hands, “we didn’t have much money either. And we were a bunch so it was even harder to go somewhere.” 

“New York’s cool though, I’m gonna show you around. Take you to the best places and restaurants. We only need to attend one meeting, which is going to be long but the rest of the time we’re free.” 

“I’d like that.” Harry smiled softly at him which Louis returned. 

A knock on the door, interrupted whatever moment they had and Louis cleared his throat before raising his voice. 

“Come in!” Harry turned around to see his best friend, Liam walk in. 

“Oh hey Haz, Mr Tomlinson. Here are the files you asked for.” 

“Hey Li.” Harry smiled up to him and watched his moves. 

“You’re still up for later?” Liam asked while Louis was looking at the files. 

“Yeah, after I visited my mom. Just text me where you guys are and I’ll come.” 

“Okay. Tell your mom I said hi Okay?”

“Going out tonight?” Louis suddenly pinched in which made Liam and Harry turn to him. 

“Yeah, Haz me and a friend of us want to go in a bar. Y’know a lads night.” Harry nodded at Liams words. 

“Sounds nice.” Louis smile was genuine. 

“Hey you should come to!” The brown eyed suddenly said with a big grin and Harry’s eyes shot up to him. 

“Ehh I don’t know, I don’t want to disturb. But thanks.” Louis said and with a hand gesture and smiled. 

“No it not a problem. You really should come, right H?” 

“Uhm... yeah...yeah sure. Of course.” He stuttered out with a pink tint to his cheeks. 

Louis nodded and grinned, “well then I’d be happy to join in.”

“Great! Harry’s going to text you the details but we’re going to meet at around 7.” Liam squeezed Harry’s shoulder and gave him a wink which confused the younger boy. 

“See you later.” And with that Liam was out. 

*

“Hi Mom.” Harry gave his mom a soft smile and leaned down to kiss her cheek. 

“Hey Baby. How are you?” She smiled back but Harry saw how exhausted and tired she looked. 

“I’m fine and you?” She shrugged which made Harry raise an eyebrow. 

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing love. C’mon tell me something.” 

“No mom, what’s it?” Harry grabbed Annes hand and squeezed it, trying to convince her to talk. 

His mom sighed and closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again. Tears were now in them and it broke Harry’s heart. 

“What’s going on mom?” He asked again, his voice getting smaller and shakier. 

“It’s getting worse. And at a faster pace then they thought.” With her words, the tears were falling down her cheeks. 

“Shh, it’s fine mum. I promise it’s going to better. Everything’s going to be fine.” He hushed her and hugged her. Anne let out a sob at his words and shook her head. 

“Have you talked to Gemma yet?” The young man stiffened at that and leaned back. His eyes lowering in guilt. 

“No I... I haven’t.” 

“Then please do it Harry.  _ Please _ .” 

“Yeah mom, I’m gonna do it. I promise. I promise alright?” His mom nodded and stroke his cheek with her thumb. 

“Thank you.” Harry nodded and bit his lip trying his hardest to contain the tears. He had to be strong. 

“Liam says hi by the way.”

“Tell him hi from me too when you see him the next time.”

“We’re going out tonight actually. With Niall and Louis.” He told her and her eyes widen at the mention of his bosses name. 

“Louis?” Harry hummed. 

“Yeah, Liam came in earlier today and then asked him if he wanted to join in. Oh mom? I’m going to be in New York next week. Is that... is that okay?”

“Yeah, of course baby. Of course! How exciting. Make lots of pictures yeah? And show them to me when you’re here again. So proud of you.”

“Thank you.” He whispered and smiled up at her. God he loved his mom so much. 

“I’m going to text Gemma so that she’ll come more often next week since I won’t be here from Wednesday to Saturday. But I’ll visit you on Sunday.” Harry explained his plan and she nodded. 

“Call your sister. And you should sleep your jet leg out. You don’t have to visit me on Sunday. It can wait.”

They both new that it was a lie. Anne more so than Harry but still. It couldn’t wait. They had to spend as much time together as possible and even though Harry was still holding onto that string of hope he knew to cherish the time with his mom. 

“I’m gonna tell Niall and Liam to visit you as well.”

“That’d be ne nice. I feel like it’s been forever since I’ve seen them. And I like to hear the stories they have to tell about you.” Harry rolled his eyes but smiled. 

“They love you Haz, and I’m glad you have them. They’re were good friends.”

“Yeah, I know. I love them too.” 

“Good. You’ll need them.”

He stayed with his mom until it was time to got for him. He noticed how tired she was in the end and just talked about Clifford and Bruce. Anne tried to listen to him but Harry noticed how her eyes were unfocusing and how she seemed to be in and out of the conversation. 

That’s when he just stroke her hand and watched her and smiled at her every time his eyes met hers. 

“I love you mom.” He kissed her cheek and then walked out of the room. Out of the hospital where he finally allowed the tears to stream down his face. 

_ We’re at Earls  _

Harry looked at Liams message and send the address to Louis. 

_Are you already there or can I pick you up from somewhere_

He thought a few moments about it before he send his answer. 

_ I’m at St Bartholomew’s _

_ Okay see you in 5 _

Five minutes later Louis car pulled up in front of him and he quickly got into the passengers seat. 

“Hey... you alright?” Harry tried his hardest in the past five minutes to look like he hadn’t just been crying. Apparently it didn’t work because Louis looked at him with worry in his eyes. 

“Yeah...yeah... just drive, it’s fine.” Harry muttered and kept his eyes trained on the window. 

Louis looked at him for a few moments before turning around and starting to drive again. 

“If you want to talk about it, then I’m here, yeah? I’ll listen.”

“Thank you, I appreciate it but it’s fine. I promise. Let’s just concentrate on drinking.” It was hard for Harry to not snap at Louis right now and even though he would consider them somewhat as friends or something like that he was still his boss. 

Louis looked at Harry, his eyes were still full of worry and he wasn’t sure if it was good for the green eyed boy to drink in his state. 

“Don’t you plan to drink tonight?” Harry asked after a while because he couldn’t stand the thick air that felt like it would choke him and because he needed his mind concentrating on something else. 

“Why wouldn’t I?” Louis asked back. 

“Because you’re here with your car and no driver.” Louis hummed. 

“Didn’t plan on drinking much, no and if I change my mind I can just let the car parked there and get it back tomorrow.”

Though, he figured he mich rather kept an eye on Harry tonight then drink at all. 

Feeling sad and alcohol were never a good combination. 

“Yeah, that would work.”

“So who’s your other friend?”

“His names Niall, he’s from Ireland but he’s been in England since he was a child. We basically grew up together and met Liam along the lines. He loves to play golf and he’s still like a child. Always smiling and always happy. I don’t think I can remember a time were Niall was genuinely sad.”

“Sounds great.”

“He is,” Harry smiled,” you can’t be bored with him he finds always fun stuff today. I think you’ll like him. I mean it’s basically impossible to not like him because he’s Niall, but you’ll like him. He loves golf by the way.”

“And what about Liam.”

“Liams not as loud as Niall, he has a kind soul and always makes sure you’re okay and don’t do dumb stuff but he’s also very bad at saying no. To anything really. Oh and don’t talk to him about politics please. Last time it ended with a black eye for him.” Harry explained and was happy for the distraction. 

Louis parked the car and they walked the few steps to the bar. Liam, Niall and Harry would often go there when they would go out. It was a nice Place and they’ve become friends with the owner of it. 

When they entered the bar Harry immediately spotted his friends, that were already sitting in a booth with pints in front of them. Just as they walked up to them Niall let out a loud laugh. 

When Louis and Harry were standing in front of them they looked up. Nialls and Liams looks got sad when they saw how Harry looked and they gave him a small smile. 

“Hey H.” Niall stood up and embraced Harry in a hug which the younger boy gladly accepted. 

“You’re fine? Everything alright?” He asked quietly with worry and Harry nodded. 

“Yeah, it’s fine. Don’t want to talk about it.” 

“Okay. That’s okay.” Niall squeezed him once more and than turned to Louis who was currently talking to Liam. 

“And you must be Mr Louis Tomlinson!” He said loudly and held his hand for him to shake. 

“Yeah, Louis’ fine though. And you’re Niall then?” 

“The one and only.” He grinned and they sat down. 

Harry was squeezed between Louis and Liam and Niall was sitting next to Louis. 

They ordered beer for them as well. 

“Haz, how was the visit with your mom?” Liam asked him quietly when Niall and Louis started to debate over football. 

“It was good. She said hi.” Liam smiled at him and squeezed his shoulders. 

“I’m gonna be in New York next week. With Louis and I need to tell Gemma to visit her more but do you think you and Niall could visit her as well? You don’t have to but she loves you and adores Niall and it’ll mean a lot to me and her.” 

“Of course Harry. We love Anne, you know that. We’ll visit her.” 

“Thank you Li.”

“Yeah, sure.”

They turned their attention back to Louis and Niall who were still talking about football. 

“Oi c’mon lad. I don’t believe you!” Louis shook his head and drank some of his beer. 

“Harry tell him that I almost became a professional football player if it wouldn’t be for Mason Greenwood! I’d be playing in Manchester now.” 

“Well he’s not lying. He did have a chance to become a professional but he couldn’t because of his knee.” Harry laughed and Niall crossed his arms and pouted. 

“You’re boring Harry.”

“And you’re a liar you little shit!” Louis laughed which sounded like the most beautiful sound Harry has ever heard. Wait what?!

They ordered a round of shots which Harry was very happy about. 

“I just wanted to keep things spicy. Didn’t know I had friends who would stab me in the back the second I needed them.”

“Niall, 9 out of 10 your stories are faked.” Liam pinched in and Harry nodded in agreement. 

“Not true. They’re liars.” The Irish blonde turned to Louis who was still laughing. 

“Okay y’know what? I just believe you everything you tell me tonight wether that’s a true story or not!” Niall grinned at that and nodded excitedly. 

“Awesome!” The group laughed and drowned their shots, Harry was quick to order another round. 

“I’m out. I’ll stick to non alcoholic drinks for now.” Louis quickly said at that which earned him confused looks. 

“That’s boring, c’mon!” Niall whined.

“Well someone has to bring y’all home and I have no problem in doing that.”

“Oh that’s great. I hate to take the underground when I’m drunk.” Niall agreed with Liams words and their clinked their shot glasses together. 

“Another round?” Harry asked and Liam and Niall shared a hesitant look before nodding their heads. 

“Okay, I’ll go order it.” Liam stood up so that Harry could slide out of the booth and go to the bar. 

“Is he always so eager to drink?” Louis asked while he watched Harry walk away. 

“No, he usually doesn’t drink a lot. Almost nothing. He’s also a lightweight so he shouldn’t drink much more, it’s not good for him.” Liam explained and Niall hummed in agreement. 

“Why do you let him then?”

“He’s his own person innit? We’re not going to tell him to stop drinking when he wants to drink. We just make sure that he’s coming home safe and doesn’t do anything dumb.”

“He cried when I picked him up earlier. He shouldn’t be drinking when he’s sad.” The older man stated with worry in his eyes. 

“It’s a hard time for Harry know, he needs this so we make sure that he’s safe but he needs toknow where his limits are. We can’t help him with that.”

“He’s drinking more shots right now. You see that too. I don’t- you should stop him. You’re his friends.” Louis argued and watched as Harry ordered himself something that looked close to whiskey. 

“We know but he gets mad if you try to stop him. We’ve tried it a few times when he started this.... this behaviour but it just made him mad. We learned to let him do how he pleases and be there for him.” This time it was Niall who talked. 

“You’re worried about him.” Liam stated the obvious but Louis nodded. 

“Well of course. After the way he looked when I picked him up, how couldn’t I worry? He was crying and know he’s drinking alcohol like water even though he said he didn’t drink a lot. So yeah I’m fucking worried.” 

“Yeah, but you care for him don’t you?” 

“What do you mean?”

“Just that normally a boss wouldn’t be so worried about one of his employees and would ask things like you just did. You care for him more then a normal work relationship gives.”

“Harry’s a nice lad. We work close together and spend a lot of time together and-“

“And he’s gay.” Niall interrupted him which okay, it wasn’t really hard to tell that Harry was gay but what has that to do with everything.  Louis told the blonde so. 

“Well you’re gay too aren’t you?” Niall then asked which, normally he would find kind of rude but Niall had this thing on him that you just can’t be mad at him. 

“I mean yeah but...?” 

“You have a crush!” Niall laughed and Liam hissed a warning “ _Niall_! ”. 

“I don’t have a crush. You do realise that, just because two people are gay they are not automatically attracted to each other.”

“Harry doesn’t even think that Louis’ gay.”

“He doesn’t?” Louis asked surprised because he thought that even though he might be more on the side where it isn’t as obvious he spend enough time with Harry for the younger boy to realise that he wasn’t straight. 

“No because of you ex girlfriend. Eleanor is her name?” 

“Yeah. Yeah but that was years ago.” Liam held his hands up and shrugged while Niall was still laughing. 

“Mate, that’s so great. That’s gonna be the greatest love story.”

“Niall seriously shut up.” Liam rolled his eyes and Niall pouted. 

“You two are boring.” Niall muttered. 

“I see Harry as a friend and nothing more then that and I’m sure he does the same.” 

All three men were watching Harry who came now back with three shot glasses.

His gaze looked foggy and he was rather stumbling than walking. He was properly pissed. 

Liam stood up and let Harry slide in again. 

“‘ve got shots.” He smiled and blinked a few times. 

“Yeah, thanks Haz.” Liam and Niall both took a glass and clinked it with Harry’s. 

“Cheers.” The green eyed boy tilted his head back and drowned the shot. 

“Li?” Harry dragged the word out and turned to his friend who hummed to get him to say what he wants to say. 

“C’n you get ‘nother?” He held his glass up towards Liam who took it. 

“I think you’ve had enough.” Louis said and Harry turned around to him. 

“What’d ya mean?” He squinted his eyes together and furrowed his brows. 

“I mean what I said. C’mon I’ll drive y’all home.” 

“I don’ wanna go ‘ome.” Harry pouted and turned to Liam again who smiled softly at him. 

“C’mon Haz.” Liam squeezed his hand and then stood up from the booth which made Harry whine. 

“‘s no fair.” Louis started to push him a little until he moved on his own. He was swaying a little when he stand so Liam grabbed his waist to hold him up. 

“Need to piss.” Harry mumbled with his arms crossed and lips formed into a pout. 

“Here are my keys, you can got to my car. When you step out just turn right. I’ll go pay and take him out with me.” He gave Liam the keys and they let Harry stumble to the toilets. 

“Here and we’re fine, Niall doesn’t live far from here, we can walk there. Just make sure Harry gets home he’s probably going to puke everywhere when you have to drop us off.” Liam held out money and the keys, from which Louis only took the latter. 

“I got it, it’s fine. Get home safe.” 

“You sure?” Liam asked with raised eyebrows and he nodded. 

“Yeah, I am.” He smiled and they said their goodbyes. 

After that he walked up to the bar and quickly payed, leaving a generous tip. 

“Thank you, sir.” The bar lady smiled at him widely. 

“You’re welcome.” He tapped the counter once and then turned around. Harry hadn’t came out of the toilet yet so he stepped into it. 

Harry was currently washing his hands and turned to Louis once he was done. 

“C’mon love, I’ll take you home now.” He grabbed Harry by his waist to steady him and walked him out of the bar. 

“Don’t wanna go!” 

“I know.” Louis said and just kept on leading Harry. The younger boy didn’t really pay attention to his surroundings anymore and leaned against Louis. 

His mind was way to foggy to remind him that this was his boss and that he was acting like a bratty child. 

The air hit him hard and he felt like throwing up. When his body then decided to give him hiccups he got upset. 

“Alright love?” Louis asked and stopped them when Harry shook his head no. 

“Feel throwing’ up,” hiccup, “‘nd I hate ‘em.” He pointed to his mouth were another hiccup came out. Louis chuckled at his words. 

“Do you want to throw up?” The younger boy shook his head again and Louis started to move them again.

“C’n we please get more?”

“More of what?”

“Alc?” 

“No, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Next time you can drink again.” He stated and opened his car with the keys. 

Harry huffed at his words and crossed his arms again. 

“I get wha’ Lottie meant.” Louis cocked an eyebrow at that. 

“What do you mean?”

“Tha’ you go daddy mode. Really boring if.. ask me.” He dragged the really out and Louis helped him get into the passengers seat. 

Harry looked up to him, with his legs still out out the car and then he suddenly started crying. 

“What’s wrong Harry? What’s going on?” Louis leaned down so that they were eye to eye and looked at him worriedly. 

“Are you hurt? What wrong? Talk to me love.” He put his hands on Harry’s knees and squeezed them. 

“My mom,” he whispered with a shaky voice and then sobbed. 

“What’s with your mom?”

“She’s sick. So so sick Lou. Not fair.” And  oh. 

“That’s why you were at the hospital earlier.” Harry nodded and Louis wiped the tears, that were streaming down Harry’s face away with his thumbs. 

“Oh love. I’m so sorry but it’s gonna be alright yeah? It’s gonna be fine you’ll see.” Louis started to stroke the curls away, that were hanging in Harry’s face. The younger boy shook his head at that. 

“Tell me when you’re sober, yeah? You’re drunk now. I don’t know if you want me to know. We can talk about it tomorrow. C’mon.” Louis hoisted Harry’s legs into the car and put the seatbelt on him. The younger boy was sniffling and watching Louis moves. 

“I’m gonna close the door now yeah? Drive you home.” He waited for Harry to nod at him, which he eventually did and then walked over to the drivers side, quickly starting the car. 

He remembered Harry’s address from the evening of the gala and was glad that it wasn’t that long of a drive. 

His gaze wandered over to Harry every few seconds, to make sure that he’s still somewhat okay. 

He had his head leaned against the window and there was still tears quietly making their way down his cheeks. 

He felt pathetic. So fucking pathetic and small. He didn’t understand the world anymore maybe he never has. 

“Okay, we’re here love.” It felt like a deja vu which it was. Last time Louis dropped him off at his flat, he used the same words. 

Harry fumbled for the seat belt and grew up setter with every second that he hadn’t found the thing that would unbuckle him. 

Louis grabbed his hand after a few moments of watching him and quickly pressed it so that he was unbuckled. 

“There you go.” Louis got out of the car and opened the door from the passenger seat. 

Harry made grabby hands and Louis helped him out of the car, the younger boy immediately leaned against him. 

Louis held him by his waist and closed the door before closing the car. 

“Where are you keys?“ He came to a halt in front of the door and Harry pulled his keys out of one of his jeans pockets. He handed them to Louis who tried every key until he found the one that fitted. 

He held the door open with his feet and shoulder so that he could help Harry walk through. 

He sighed relieved when he saw that there was an elevator. 

“Which floor?” 

“Third,” Louis pressed the three. 

“No, fourth.” 

“Sure?” Harry nodded and he pressed the fourth floor but turned around when Harry started to giggle. 

“What’s it?”

“I lied.” The younger boy whispered and break into a giggle again. 

“Okay funny. Where do you live love?” 

“Fifth. Pinky promise.” He held his pinky up and Louis eyed him for a second before he joined his pinky with Harry’s. 

He pressed the five and leaned against the wall. 

“Lou?” The older boy hummed and let his eyes wander to Harry’s. 

“Lou. Lou ee. Loueh. Louis. Lou Lou.” Louis watched him confused and Harry giggled again. 

“Just trying which one I like the most.” He explained and even though his words were more clearer Louis felt like he was more drunk now. 

“I see. And which one?” He decided to just play 

along. 

“I like Lou. ‘s cute. Or Lou Lou, that’s funny.”

“Not really but yeah. What about you?”

“Ni and Li call me H or Haz or Hazza or Harry. But that’s my name. I like Haz or H the most. You call me love. I like that.” He started to babble and smiled then at Louis. 

“Mhh.” He agreed and the elevator door opened. 

“Left or right?” He asked Harry who pointed to the left. 

He walked them there. 

“Stop, here.” Louis stopped them in front of the door they were standing now and started to try the keys again until he found the fitting one. 

He searched for the light switch and turned it in when he found it. 

“Where’s your bedroom?” Louis looked at Harry who nodded and pointed to a door. Louis opened the door and helped Harry in, who immediately slumped down on the bed. 

It was amusing to see, to how many different states Harry went through while he was drunk. 

“Lou. Shoes.” He whined and moved his legs up and down. 

“Okay, hold still love.” Harry stopped his movement and Louis pulled the boots from his feet. 

The younger boy turned on his back and started to pull on his shirt. Louis quickly turned around.

“Uhm... yeah. I’ll just go? Yeah.” He looked up at the ceiling and let out a breath. 

“Help, stuck.” Harry’s voice came muffled and whiny. 

Louis turned around again and saw Harry tangled in his shirt. He bit his lip to contain a laugh at the sight and moved forward to pull the shirt from him. As soon as it was off, Harry started to fumble with his jeans button. 

“Okay, wait till I’m out and then you can take of your clothes.” Louis took a glance at Harry’s torso and gulped. 

“‘s tight. Can’t get out.” Louis breathed in and out and turned around again. 

“Okay, I’ll help you... uhm just lay down.” Harry slumped on his back and Louis quickly pulled the skinny jeans down his long legs. 

He took the socks off too because honestly sleeping with socks was just a big  _ no _ . 

Harry held out a hair tie wem Louis put his legs down and he eyed it confused. 

“Uhm.. nice hair tie?” It was green and sparkly. 

“I know. Bun please.” Harry said and turned his back to Louis, sitting now cross legged on the bed. 

Sure. It was completely normal. Nothing weird about the situation. Just his personal assistant sitting naked in his boxers, asking him to make bun in his hair. That’s cool. Louis’ cool.  _ Cool cool cool cool _ _._

He took the hair tie and started to make the bun. Harry’s hair was soft and fluffy and he could play with it all day long if he was asked. He silently thanked his sisters for making him learn basically every Hairstyle there is.

“Okay all done.” He patted the bun once and Harry crawled up to his pillows. Then he started to pull the blanket out from under him, which Louis quickly helped him by when he saw Harry’s struggle. 

“Thanks Lou.” Harry’s eyes were already closed as he smiled softly. 

“No problem.” He got out of the bedroom and walked into the kitchen, where he searched for a glass, hoping he wouldn’t make too much noise. 

When he found them he pulled two out and filled them with water. One he took for himself and chugged it down in a matter for seconds the other he placed on Harry’s bedside table. He then proceeded to look for any kind of aspirin which took him at least 15 minutes and he felt really awkward going through Harry’s stuff. 

He just hoped that Harry wouldn’t mind and be thankful for it. When he found it he placed it next to the glass of water. 

He was tired and sat himself on the couch that was in Harry’s living room. 

*

When Harry woke up the next morning his mouth was dry and he was confused. Very confused. How did he get home and especially how did he get out of clothes?

He rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times until his surroundings were completely clear when he noticed the glass of water and the Aspirin that was sitting next to it. 

He took both of them and drank the glass slowly. The water felt good in his throat and he was glad for the Aspirin. 

He put on some clothes when he was done and walked out of his bedroom to the bathroom. 

He came to a halt when he saw Louis sitting on his couch. He was still asleep and Harry just stood there for a few moments, not knowing what to do. 

He decided to leave him be and prepare breakfast instead. 

Shortly before he was done, Louis was standing next to him. Harry jumped and pressed his hand to his heart. 

“Fuck Louis. Almost gave me a heart attack.” The older man laughed and Harry glared at him. 

“Not funny. You scared me.” Louis laughed louder which made Harry pout. 

“Sorry love. Everything alright?” Harry blushed at the nickname and nodded. 

“Yeah, it’s fine. Do you want breakfast? I made some.” 

“Sounds lovely.” Harry made a gesture to his table, where everything was already set and Louis sat down. 

“Here’s your tea. Just take whatever you want.” Louis smiled thankfully up at him. 

Harry drank his smoothie. 

“Sorry about last night. I don’t remember a lot but there are snippets.” Louis swallowed his pancake and shrugged. 

“It’s alright. I’m sorry that you were so down.” He said, carefully. He didn’t want to pressure Harry into telling him anything but it’d be a lie if he would say he wasn’t curious. 

“Yeah, about that...”

“You don’t have to tell me.” He quickly assured and Harry smiled. 

“I know but it’s alright. My mom has lung cancer... Uhm she was... she was diagnosed three years... yeah three years ago. You... you can’t- it’s incurable. And yesterday... I mean I try. I try to be happy when I... when I visit her but when I’m out... when I’m out I always break down. And yesterday,” Harry let out a mix between a laugh and a huff and it sounded broken before he started talking again. 

“It’s getting worse... and I... I can’t do anything. You... I feel so fucking helpless.” Louis has stopped to eat by now and just listened to Harry. 

“I’m sorry to hear that.” His voice was quiet and soft. 

“It’s not your fault. That’s... the reason I took the job was because of the money. The hospital bills are so expensive and we need every pence.” 

“I can help!” Louis said without thinking. Not that he wouldn’t do it but...

“No. It’s alright. We’re alright, thank you.” Louis nodded and looked down. 

“If there’s something you need just tell me no matter what yeah? When you want to visit you mom, no matter what time just tell me and you can go yeah. And I won’t let you work so much anymore-“

“Lou, I appreciate it. I really do but it’s fine. I knew what the job would take from me and I’m okay with it. It’s alright. Don’t worry about it.” Harry’s smile was pressured and Louis nodded. 

“Okay, whatever you want.”

“Thank you.” He nodded and started to eat again. 

The tension in the room was awkward now and both boys felt uncomfortable. 

“Did I do something super embarrassingly tonight?” Harry asked after a while and Louis chuckled. 

“No, it was alright. Lots of mood swings though.” 

Harry blushed and looked down. 

“It’s fine H. Wouldn’t be here if you did something weird.” Harry’s head snapped up at the nickname and he smiled. 

“Did you still have fun last night?”

“Yeah. You’re friend are nice. Not gonna lie, Niall should probably see a doctor or something but they’re good lads.”

“Niall’s just Niall. He’s always been this way.” 

“No drugs?” Harry laughed and shook his curls. 

“No, no drugs.”

“Impressive. The world would be a better place if everyone was like Niall.” Louis joked and Harry nodded. 

“Yeah but it would be also a lot dumber and way more people would die because Nialls just are oblivious to practically everything. 

He almost get hit by a car for ten times. This year.”

“This year?” Harry hummed and nodded. 

“Wow. Just wow.”

“If you want to go out with Niall you could as well go out with a child. But I love him. And Liam too.”

“You three are close. I only have one friend with whom I’m as close as you are with Niall and Liam.”

“Well now you have us too. Liam always told us how nice you are so he already likes you and I’m 100% sure Niall loves you after you’ve listend to his stories because we don’t do that anymore.” 

“Yeah, I think I can live with that.” Louis said with a smile and Harry rolled his eyes playfully. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think xx


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Besties   
> I hope y’all are streaming nobody is listening if not then please do it.   
> Anyway this chapter is 5,700 words long and is part one of the trip to New York.   
> I hope you enjoy it xx

Harry pressed on the contact and took a deep breath, while his thumb lingered over the calling symbol. He knew what he wanted to say but he hasn’t really thought about  _ how _ he would say it. It couldn’t be that hard though right? It was still his sister that he wanted to call and he wasn’t calling to give her bad news. All he wanted from her was that she would visit their mom on the days that he couldn’t. Simple and easy. 

He pressed down on the button and held his phone up to his ear waiting for Gemma to pick up. It took a short moment but then he could hear a rustle.

“Hello?” Harry let out a shaky breath and gulped before he could answer her. It was just long since he’s heard her voice.

“Hi Gemma, it’s me. Harry.”

“Oh, yeah. Did something happen to mom?” Worry was lingering in her voice and it made Harry realise, that there wasn’t a reason for them anymore to just randomly call the other and talk about their day or send the other one a text message now and then. The only times that they would talk were when it was about there mom but even than it was just to inform the other over important things.

“No, no she’s...she’s fine.” He was quick to assure her because he didn’t want her to worry.

“Okay and how can I help you then?” Her voice sounded distant, as if it was a bother to talk to him. He could hear voices in the background and asked himself where his sister was right now.

“I’m gonna be away from Wednesday to Saturday and because I don’t want mom to be alone I wanted to ask if you maybe could visit her? I’ll also send Niall and Liam for one day. But the other days, please?”

“This week?” Harry nodded but then remembered that his sister couldn’t see him.

“Yeah, I know it’s short term but please?” 

“Why aren’t you in London?”

“I’ll be flying to New York. It’s because of work.” He simply explained.

“Oh...okay, that’s... okay I’ll visit mom.” She said surprised and Harry squeezed his eyes shut.

“I didn’t know that you worked somewhere else now. Uhm... I’ll have to go now. We’ll see each other.”

“Yeah, of course.” They both knew that it was a lie and Harry knew that he really had to fix this. If not for him and Gemma, then for his mom because that’s all she wants and what kind of shit of a son would Harry be, if he wouldn’t fulfil the one thing his mom asked him to do. He stared at Gemmas contact for a few more moments until someone cleared his throat. Harry looked startled up and relaxed when he saw that it was Louis, that was standing in front of him.

“You’re alright Haz?” Louis asked slightly worried. His blues eyes searched his face, looking for anything. It wasn’t obvious but Harry noticed that Louis treated him differently since he had told him about his mom. It wasn’t that much of big difference but he still felt pitied. Harry didn’t want to be pitied, didn’t  _ need _ to be pitied.

“Yeah, I’m fine just had a talk with my sister.” He waved his phone around in the air and shrugged his shoulders before laying it on his desk. 

“Oh, cool.” Louis said with a smile and sat down.

“Mhh, depends on how you look at it. Why’d you came here?” He changed the topic and Louis eyed him for a second before he looked down at the files he was holding.

“These are files about the company we’ll be having the meeting with in New York and I need you to learn everything about them and research everything as well. When you find something then write it down.” The older man handed them over.

He opened the first file and looked at the paper sheets, “they want a deal right?” Harry asked and looked up again. Louis nodded.

“Yeah and they want me to invest a lot of money which I don’t want to do, as long as I’m not 100% sure that they’re clean. Just look through everything.”

“Okay, I’ll do that.” The blue eyed shot him a smile and got up from his seat.

“Do you want to get lunch together later?” He turned around in Harry’s doorway and looked at him expectingly.

“Yeah, sure just come and get me when you want to go.” Harry said with a smile and Louis nodded and left. 

*

“I’m all for the healthy lifestyle but you can’t tell me you actually enjoy eating that!” Louis looked at Harry’s food and scrunched his face in disgust.

“I enjoy it 95% of the time.” He tried to defend his eating habits but he knew that it doesn’t help him anymore as it does with Liam or Niall.

Louis cocked an eyebrow, “yeah sure and what are the other 5 %?” He asked with disgust still painted over his face.

“I don’t know. There’s often coriander in food and I don’t like it, tastes like soap.”

“Eww why would you do that to yourself?”

“It’s healthy like I said.” He shrugged his shoulders and started to eat his food.

“Okay can we make a deal?” Louis looked up at Harry who eyed him suspiciously.

Not sure what do expect he dragged out the “Sure?” And it sounded more like a uncertain question.

“Alright, I told you that, when we’re in New York that I want to show you everything and I obviously know where you can get the best food so you need to cut your diet and eat as much greasy and unhealthy food with me as I want.”

Harry relaxed at that because that was easy. He could do that without any problems. 

“Yeah, okay.”

“I promise it’s going to be worth it. You can’t go to New York with- wait what?”

“I said yeah okay. It’s not that big of a deal. I ate fries when I was with Lottie and it’s not like I don’t enjoy it. I just choose to not eat it.”

“Perfect! Pinky promise?” Louis held his finger up.

“You want me to pinky promise that I eat unhealthy food with you?”

“No, I want your to pinky promise that you only eat unhealthy food with me! I don’t even want to see you near a smoothie or anything green and I don’t want you to complain about it once.” Harry rolled his eyes but linked his pinky with Louis. The older man smiled winningly at that and dived into his food again.

“We need to bring the dogs back to Elevator tomorrow.”

“Oh my god, stop calling her that Lou, that’s mean.” Harry scolded him to which he replied with a shrug of his shoulders. 

“She’s a witch and I don’t like her.”

“We don’t have to do that together y’know? I can bring them to her as well.” Harry stated without responding to Louis’ comment. 

“No you can’t. She’s a witch as I said.”

“She’s not going to kill me.”

“Well  duh Harry- but she thinks you’re hot and that’s disgusting I don’t want you to be alone with her.”

“So you think im disgusting?” Harry crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back.

“What? No, fuck no you’re not. You are hot that’s the problem!” Louis quickly replied and shook his head.

“So you think I’m hot?” Harry asked smugly even though his cheeks were burning by now.Louis blinked at him for a few seconds before shrugging his shoulders.

“Doesn’t matter. We’re going to bring the dogs to her together. It’s an order!”

“Aye aye captain.” Harry saluted with a grin. Louis shook his head and let out a light chuckle.

*

“Niall and Liam are going to visit on Friday and I talked with Gemma and she said she would come tomorrow and on Thursday.” Harry explained once again to his mom who smiled and nodded.

“Alright love, thank you. Now tell me, how excited are you for tomorrow?”

“Very. It’s the first time that I’m flying which is excitingly enough but then it’s also such a long flight. I’m also kind of nervous but it’s New York mom.” He started to ramble and Anne just listened to her son.

“Louis said he’s going to show me everything. He’s been to New York a couple times now so i think that’s good. And the foods supposed to be really good there.”

“Did you pack already?”

“Mhh almost done just a few things that I’m going to do tomorrow early.”

“Don’t forget underwear and deo and a razor and some sunscreen as well. I know it’s already fall but the sun can sometimes be really aggressive. And do you have enough socks? And don’t forget one of these bandana thingys. You love to wear them but always forget them when you go somewhere. And take enough hair ties with you. They get lost basically everywhere.”

“Oh and your toothpaste and a brush obviously!” Harry nodded and smiled.

“Thank you mom.”

“I love you honey, I’m so proud of my baby.” She sniffles and Harry was quick to hug her.

“I love you too.” 

*

“When are you back?” Eleanor asked and smiled to Harry, the younger boy returned it.

“On Sunday. If it’s okay for you, I can pick the dogs up on Monday.” Louis said with furrowed eyebrows.

“Or Harry could get them, right?”

“Uhm...” His green eyes send a look to Louis, quietly asking for help. He doesn’t really have a problem with her but it was obvious that she was flirting with him and it kind of made him uncomfortable. Considering that she’s the ex girlfriend of his boss.

“Harry already has a lot to do on Monday so I’m going to get them.” Louis muttered and Harry gave an apologetic smile. He squatted down to pet Bruce and Clifford. The green eyed boy spent a lot of time, walking with them the past weeks and he’s going to miss them.

“Oh maybe another time then?” She turned to Harry and the younger boy nodded.

“Of course.” He let out a small smile and took a step back when she started to clap her hands in excitement.

“Yeah, we’re going now.” Louis gave Eleanor the leashes and turned around, Harry following him close.

“Told you she thinks that you’re hot.” He held the door open for Harry who got into the passenger seat. The younger boy rolled his eyes. 

“I’m not interested.”

“Oh I know, but it’s still funny.”

“What’d ya mean  _ you know _ ?” Harry turned his body, as best as he could towards Louis.

“I mean.. that you don’t like women?”

“ _ Oh _ ..is that a problem for you?” He asked anxiously because they were cases were Harry told people who he was, how he felt and he was met with rejection and that hurts a lot. 

The green eyed boy was proud of who he was and was confident in his sexuality and he hated it when people made him feel like he was anything less then him because of that.

“Oi c’mon, seriously H?” Harry’s eyes snapped up, from where they were trained on his lap.“Harry, why would I ever have a problem with that when I’m gay meself, huh?”

“You’re g-  _ really _ ?” Harry tilted his head to the side and looked with furrowed brows to Louis.

“Yeah really. Completely and utterly gay. Figured it out quite late in my life but I am.”

“Oh... cool, that’s cool.” He mumbled and nodded his eyebrows still knitted together. And... well that’s interesting because his fucking good looking boss, who he thought was straight, was gay.

“Do you have a problem with it?” Louis asked, confused by Harry’s reaction.

“What no! This conversation doesn’t make sense. Why would any of us have a problem with the other being gay when both of us are gay?”

“Because you reacted weirdly!” Louis stated.

“No I didn’t. I just didn’t expected it. You don’t  _ look _ gay.” 

“And what does  _ gay _ look like then?” Louis asked and Harry sighed.

“I feel like I’m homophobic right now.”

“Yeah, I know,” Louis laughed, “Niall knew it.” He added with a shrug.

“He did?” Louis hummed and nodded.“That’s weird... Really?”

“Yeah. I don’t know how we came up with it but he was like  _ you’re gay right?  _ In his weird Irish accent and I was like  _ yeah _ .”

“Normally Nialls gaydar is the worse. I’m surprised. He tried to set me up with guys that are straighter then... I don’t know, something that’s really straight.”

“You did not just call it that! A gay- no you know what. I refuse to say it out loud!” Louis said with an offended voice and Harry laughed.

“I did. And Niall and Liam do too and a lot of other people too. See that’s why I thought you’re not gay. You act straight.”

“I can’t believe this conversation and I’m kind of disgusted by the words that come out of your mouth.” Harry huffed playfully and crossed his arms.

“With what kind of guys did he try to set you up though?” Louis asked after a beat of silence and let his gaze wander over to Harry before looking back on the street.

“Once there was this body builder and he thought I wanted him to train with me but I figured out pretty quickly that he was straight. Niall apologised over a hundred times to me and said he’d swear he thought he was gay and when I asked him what exactly made him think that he said he looked at his bum once. Liam made him pay 10 pound. Since then we safe the money Niall has to pay every time he sets me up with someone that’s straight or has weird kinks or anything that’s not acceptable.”

“How much money do you have by now?” Harry shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t know but over a hundred pounds for sure.”

The older man thought about it for a few seconds, “I wouldn’t do it. Going on dates with weird strangers who could want really disgusting shit from me just to get 10 pounds? No way.”

“Liam or Niall are always near me so that I’m safe and it’s funny to be honest. I don’t expect to find love by going on these dates. It’s just to have a good laugh and to earn money. You should try it. When we get back, I tell Niall to set you up with someone.”

“No, forget it but I’d like to watch one of yours happen.”

“Yeah, I haven’t had one for a few months now and the last one was really disturbing but I guess we can ask Niall. Like I said it’s really just for fun. We planned to go on a road trip with the money.” 

*

“Here, I brought tea.” Harry held out a paper cup which Louis took gratefully.

“Honestly why did the flight have to be so bloody early.” The younger boy just shrugged and sat down in the chair next to Louis. He was pretty tired and was sleep deprived. He couldn’t fall asleep tonight, too antsy for the flight.

“What’s flying like?” He asked quietly and Louis turned to him. The airport was filled with many business man and due to how early in the morning, it was very quiet. People are sleeping, reading or listening to something over there headphones.

“It’s pretty chill actually. You’ll have butterflies in your tummy when it starts and when it lands. You don’t even notice your moving as long as there are no turbulences but I Chef the weather and it shouldn’t happen. And in first class you have enough free room for your legs which you’re going to need.”

“How long are we flying?”

“Around 7 to 8 hours but it’s going to be over before you know it. Are you nervous or scared?”

“Nervous yeah, but it’s more of an exciting nervousness. Scared not so much.”

“Okay that’s good then. Just relax.”

When their flight got called, Harry followed Louis close, not wanting to lose him and because he also had no idea what he was supposed to do. Louis showed his ticket to a stewardess who scanned it and Harry mimicked him.

“Have a good flight.” She smiled and Harry followed Louis again. 

They walked for a little while until they came to the passageway that was connected to the plane.

“C’mon.” Louis smiled at Harry and they showed their tickets once again before looking for their seats.

“Give me you suitcase.” Louis put both, his and Harry’s in the overhead bin, while Harry sat down in his seat.

“Put your seatbelt on, yeah?” Harry nodded and closed the seatbelt before he looked out of the window.

“Do you think we’ll see a rainbow?”

“I don’t know, maybe.” Louis shrugged and watched Harry. 

“When does it start?”

“Probably not for another 45 minutes,” Harry’s eyes widen at that.

“So long?” Louis hummed as an answer and Harry slumped down in his seat and took in his surroundings. He did have a lot of space for his legs and there weren’t many seats.

“Is that a mini bar?” He suddenly asked Louis who was playing a game on his phone. The older man looked up and followed Harry’s look.

“Yeah, do you want something?”

“Lou it’s 4.30 in the morning.”

“Yeah, I know. So..?”

“No I’m fine” Harry chuckled and looked around some more.

“What do you want to eat for breakfast?” Louis asked after a while. The younger boy looked over where he was holding something like a small menu in his hands.

“You can pick. I promised I wouldn’t eat anything you didn’t approve of so show me the good stuff Tomlinson.”

“Oh yeah, I’ll do that.” Louis smirked and looked down to the food options. 

*

Harry wasn’t a big fan of flying he realised. It was okay and he didn’t mind it but he also was perfectly fine without it.He was currently listening to music while Louis was sleeping next to him but he wasn’t far from falling asleep as well.After a while he fell asleep too.

*

“Haz, love c’mon wake up. We’re here.” Louis lightly shook Harry’s shoulder until he slowly opened his eyes.

“Good Morning.” He smiled and Harry rubbed his eyes.

“What time is it?”

“11 am in London and 6 am in New York.” They stood up and Harry stretched before he took his backpack and the suitcase Louis handed him.

“It’s quite early.” Louis hummed and nodded.

“Yeah, but that’s good. We can go to the hotel, sleep some more and then we can look around a little bit. I still have some work to do as well for tomorrow.”

“Alright,” and with that Harry followed Louis around the airport again until they were standing in front of a yellow cab.

Louis told the driver the address of their hotel and he nodded before he got out of his car and took Louis’ and Harry’s suitcases, putting them in the bunk. They got into the back of the car and the driver started it.

“That’s Times Square. I’ll go with you there on Friday.” Harry looked out of the window and took everything in.

“It looks amazing. It’s beautiful here.” Even though it was still quite early, the streets were already busy and many different people where out and about.

The cab driver stopped in front of a luxury hotel. Harry was the one who chose it but it still took his breath when he stood in front of it.  Louis payed the cab driver and they made their way into the lobby.

“It’s beautiful here.” Harry said quietly and followed Louis up to the reception. The younger boy waited until his boss had them both checked in and took the key card Louis held out for him.

“Our rooms are on the same floor,” Louis explained to them, while they made their way over to the elevators. Music was quietly playing in the background as they stepped into the elevator and Louis pressed the floor, in which their rooms where.

“For when should I set my alarm?”

“You don’t have to. Just come to my room when you’ve had enough sleep. You’re probably more tired than me.”

“Are you sure?” They stepped out of the elevator and Louis nodded.

“Yes, I am. Now, my room is 647 and yours?” 

“Uhm... 648.” Harry looked down at his card and then up again.

They walked down the hallway until they were standing in front of Harry’s room, Louis’ was across from it.

“Sleep well Haz, see you later.” Louis smiled and opened his door. Harry did the same. 

His room was beautiful, everything was white with green and it looked very expensive. He walked up to the windows, that were huge and looked out. They weren’t very high but he could still see a lot from New York and it was breathtaking.

He got out of his clothes and laid down in just his boxers. He always preferred to sleep without pants or a T-shirt, because he felt restrained in them.

The bedwas incredibly soft and it didn’t took long for him to fall asleep.

*

“We can walk around for a bit when we’re done. And get something to eat as well.” Louis suggested and looked up from his laptop. 

“Yeah, I’m starving and I’d like to go out a bit my legs feel numb from all the sitting.”

They were both sitting at their laptops for over three hours now, preparing things for the meeting tomorrow. 

Harry had knocked on Louis door around 11 and they both hadn’t eaten anything since their breakfast.

“We can get something to go and... walk around maybe go into Central Park, that’s close.” Harry smiled at that and nodded eagerly.

They were standing outside of the hotel right now, having their work finished as quickly as they could.

“Okay, so the first thing that you’re going to eat is...,” Louis looked around and searched for something that they could eat. “...a Hot Dog. You’ve ever eaten one before?”

Harry rolled his eyes playfully. “No, never heard of it.” He said sarcastically.

“Well young Harold, then I’m honoured to give you the first Hot Dog ever. And that all sounded completely like I was a pervert  but  we’re just going to ignore that and enjoy our Hot Dogs.” Harry laughed at Louis words and followed him to the Hot Dog stand.

“Two with everything please.” Louis payed him and than proceeded to hand Harry his Hot Dog. The younger boy readjusted the beanie he was wearing and waited for Louis to put his wallet away. It was already the end of September and the day were slowly getting colder.

“Okay, ready love?” Harry gave him a dimpled smile and nodded. They both took a bite and Louis watched Harry excited.

“And?”

“It’s good.” The younger boy said with a shrug to his shoulders. 

“And?” 

“There’s no and. I’ve eaten bunch of Hot Dogs in my life. Like I said-“

“You don’t eat healthy food because you don’t like unhealthy food it’s just that you choose not to. Yeah, yeah curly, we’ve been over that.” Louis mocked him which landed him a glare from Harry.

“Okay, it tastes really, really good.”

“That’s what I thought.” Louis smiled satisfied at that and they started to walk down the street.

“Can I ask you something?” Harry said after a while and Louis hummed, waiting for him to proceed. 

“Why don’t you have a private jet? Just curious because you obviously have the money for it right? So why do you choose to fly with so many other people when you could have your own plane?”

“Yeah, I could afford it but I don’t know. I don’t have a problem with flying with so many people. Especially not in first class. I don’t mind it so why should I change it? But maybe one day I’ll get one. So that I just can fly wherever I want whenever I want but right now I don’t see the necessity in it. What would you buy? I money wasn’t a problem, I mean.”

Harry thought about this question a few moments. 

“I don’t know to be honest. I feel like all that I’m thinking about right now are things that, no matter how much money you have you just can’t buy.”

“Tell me, please?”

“I would want my mom to be cured. Free of lung cancer and for my sister and me to get closer but I don’t know if that’ll ever happen again.”

Louis gave him a sympathetic smile and squeezed his arm.

“Is your sister like you?”

“No, not at all. She’s way smarter and beautiful and she’s got such a strong character it’s impressive. I always looked up to her. I still do besides everything. We were pretty close when we were younger but moms diagnosis and the things, that followed that really pulled on us and our relationship and it started to fall apart. We barely talk. I had to call her on Monday and that was the first time we’ve talked in months and neither of us knew what to say.”

“I’m sorry about that Haz. I couldn’t imagine not being close to my siblings it would be- I don’t know how I would cope to be honest.”

“It’s not your fault and you eventually get used to it. You get used to everything as time passes.”

“You shouldn’t though.”

“It’s something you can’t control. It just happens.“

“You can control it Harry. I don’t know what exactly has driven you and your sister apart but I don’t think it’s nothing you can’t fix. You shouldn’t get used to being alone.”

“I’m not alone Louis. I have Liam and Niall 

and-“

“You have me too.” Louis interrupted him and Harry’s eyes soften at that.

“Thank you.” 

“My mom always says how much she wants me and Gemma to fix everything. She says that that’s all she wants.”

“Then do it Haz. You don’t even have to do it alone. You can call Gemma while on of your friends is there with you or you can meet her with one of us there. It doesn’t matter but what matters is that you’re not alone with this.”

“Yeah, maybe... I.... I’ll think about it.” 

*

This was by far the longest Meeting Harry had to witness and he felt like he would fall asleep any second. Louis didn’t look better, he supported his head with his arm and his eyes were getting smaller with every passing minute.

They were sitting here since 7.30 am and it was already 1 pm.“We’re going to take a break for an hour.” The head of the other company confirmed and Harry sighed in relief.

“C’mon let’s get out of here.” Louis stood up and took his phone and his wallet.

„Where are we going?” 

“Just out, getting something to eat. Fucksake I feel like I’m dying.” They were standing in the elevator and Louis leaned against the wall. 

“Honestly H, did you hear his voice? Sounded like a fucking sleeping pill. Why did I do this to us? We’ve been here for hours and he’s just talking and talking and talking.” 

“It is kind of boring but it’s important right? Do you already know if you’re going to invest?”

“And talk with him for the rest of my life. No thank you.”

“Louis, c’mon be serious.” Harry nudged him with his shoulders. 

“I don’t know it yet. He did make a good offer but some parts of it are bothering me. You didn’t find anything yeah?”

“Nothing, everything was clear and boring. This mans life is the most boring thing I’ve ever seen.”

They stepped out of the elevator and Louis walked them into a small cafe that was next to the company’s building. 

“What do you want?” 

“Oh uhm... a peppermint tea and you can choose the food.” Harry shrugged. Since he’s been in New York he hasn’t chosen what he’s going to eat once and honestly he was fine with it. 

“Could we please get a peppermint tea, a Yorkshire with a splash of milk, no sugar and two New York cheesecake to go?” He told the waiter who smiled at them and nodded. 

“New York cheesecake in New York?”

“It’s a classic, of course. And where would it taste better then in New York? It has its name in it.”

“The New York cheesecake here is very good. It’s one of our best selling cakes.” The guy told Harry with a smile which he returned and Louis turned around to him. 

“See, I told you.”

“Sure you did.” 

“Here’s your order, enjoy it.” He winked at them and they walked out of the cafe again. 

“Can’t take you anywhere when they’re all trying to seduce you.” Louis shook his head which made Harry furrow his brows in confusion. 

“What do you mean?”

“Cheeky bastard, gave you his number and he winked at you.” Louis turned Harry’s cup around so that he could see the number that was scribbled on it. Underneath it was standing  _call me <3._

Harry blushed a little bit and smiled, “Iit’s not my fault.” 

“Kinda is though curly. But for all he knows, you could’ve been my boyfriend! I tell ya, the younger generation don’t have any shame left.Unbelievable.”

“Well you’re not my boyfriend you’re my boss  and  I belong to the same generation grandpa. Also it’s not my fault I literally just stood beside you.” 

“So you agree that you were the problem.”

“Louis, you honestly drive me insane.” Louis poked his tummy at that, which made the younger boy shriek and hunch down. 

“Not fair!” He caught up to Louis who was already walking back into the company. 

“I don’t play fair. Now back to Buisness. Tell me young Harold, my apprentice, my Padawan shall I invest or not?”

“I don’t know Lou-“

“It’s Master for you right now.” Harry rolled his eyes. 

“I don’t know  _ master _ . I agree, he did make a good offer but you’re not gaining that much out of a deal with him. He makes a lot of money out of it and gains more from the deal than you do. So I don’t think you should do it. Or you should invest less. Like way less.”

“Thank you you may now call me Louis again.” 

“Oh do I feel honoured right now.”

“As you should.” The elevator door opened with a bling and they stepped out.

“I let him talk for a bit more and will think about your idea. You think you can make it?”

“You were the one who was half asleep before the break, I should ask you instead.” Louis huffed. 

“I’m fine, I have my New York cheesecake from New York.” 

They both started to eat their cake and drank their tea after a while the meeting started again.

“I’m sorry that I have to interrupt you here but I thought about it and also talked with Mr Styles about it and I came to the decision that I don’t want to invest. Thank you.” Louis stood up when he startet to talk and looked to the boss of the other company who’s mouth opened and closed like a fish.

“But Mr Tomlinson... The deal is very important for both our companies and I’m sure if you would just listen to me we’ll find a compromise.”

“I’m sure you’ll find another investor but that won’t be me. Ladies, Gentlemen.” He knocked on the glass table with his knuckle three times and nodded his head in the group before taking his belongings. 

Harry watched his moves and took his things as well before he followed Louis out of the room. 

“So you’ve decided against it.”

“Like I said, have you heard his voice? It’s a fucking sleeping pill.”

*

“It’s raining.” Harry stated the obvious as he looked out of the window in Louis room where they were currently in.

“Mhh. Do you want to stay in? Order room service and watch a movie or something?”

“Whatever you prefer. I don’t really care.”

“Well since I decide on food, why don’t you pick a movie? The meeting today was exhausting and I’m starting to believe that the voice from this guy really was a sleeping pill because I feel tired.”

“It was the longest meeting I’ve been in.”

“Well then that’s a first and a last time I hope. I hate these long lasting meetings.” Harry hummed in agreement and nodded his head. He didn’t have much experience with meetings but enough to say that he didn’t like them when they were too long.

“And what are we watching?”

“Star wars, because you’ve been making references the whole day. What are we eating?”

“Burgers with fries, milkshakes and ice cream for dessert.” He grins and goes to the door to open it when there was a knock. 

Louis tipped the guy who brought them their food and moved the cart over to his bed.“C’mere.” He tapped the space next to him and Harry sat down cross legged on the bed.

“I haven’t drank a milkshake since forever!” Harry grabbed the glass and sucked on the straw that was sticking in it. 

“It’s good Lou.”

“Yeah?” Harry nodded and the older boy smiled, ”that’s good.”

“I still need to give you the money. I always forget it.”

“What money?”

“For the food? Did you really think I just let you pay for everything?”

“Well yeah? I mean that’s what I wanted.”

“No, that’d be rude and would feel like I’m using you for your money.”

“But it’s basically the company who pays for this. And this is a business trip.”

“Lou you are basically the company.”

“Alright, then good that that’s settled. You don’t need to repay me because I don’t have a problem with paying and we’re all happy.”

“I’m not happy.” Harry tried to argue but was hushed by Louis. 

“C’mon lad I’m trying to watch a movie here.” Harry rolled his eyes and turned his concentration on the tv. They ate their food and made comments on the film. 

It felt easy to be with Louis and he felt comfortable around him. They laughed a lot and when the first movie has ended, they decided to start another. 

Both boys were laying on the bed by now and eating their ice cream while it was still raining outside.

Harry can’t remember the last time he felt this relaxed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think xx   
> or Idk just Tell me something   
> Like what’s up   
> Do you have a dog? Or a cat? Do you like tea or coffee?   
> Where are your from?


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops.  
> Hi. 
> 
> Y’all are crazy by the way!!! This story has already 900 hits and 55 kudos. Thank you so much xxx
> 
> Also psssssht Theres smut in this chapter but it’s very light and short idek if this is considered smut also I don’t have a dick so I actually have no idea.

When Harry woke up he didn’t open his eyes. They were kind of sticking together and the bed sheets were smelling way too good to leave them. He cuddled closer to them and turned around to get into a more comfortable position, which didn’t help much. 

Then he noticed that he was still wearing clothes, which was the reason why he was so uncomfortable in the first place. 

The second thing he noticed were that these bed sheets weren’t his they weren’t smelling of him but rather smelling how Louis normally smelled like. 

Harry liked the smell but it was still confusing him a lot so he dragged himself to open his eyes.

“Morning Love. Did you sleep well?” Blue eyes met his and Harry flinched a little. He didn’t really expect Louis to sit on the bed next to him. 

“What?”

“Did you sleep well?”

“Uhm... yeah. Yeah, I did... I guess. Are we in your room?”

“Yeah. You fell asleep shortly after we started the second movie and i tried to wake you up but you didn’t respond so I slept on the couch.” 

“Oh, im sorry. You could’ve just... I don’t know throw me to the ground or something.”

“Well that wouldn’t be very nice now would it? Besides, I didn’t mind. The couch is really comfortable.” Louis shrugged it off and smiled at him. 

“Uhm okay... I’m still sorry. I’m gonna go take a shower and change my clothes.”

“Do that. Put yourself something warm on. We’re going out for breakfast.” 

Harry quickly scurried of to his room where he started the shower and waited for it to warm up.He stripped out of his clothes and stepped into the shower, letting out satisfied sigh when the warm water hit his shoulders. 

He closed his eyes and let his head hung low, just relaxing under the water. After a while he let his hand wander down to his cock, giving it a few tucks. He was already half hard due to just waking up so it didn’t took long for him until he was completely hard. 

He teased the tip of his cock with his thumb, pressing down on it. The green eyed let out a moan at that and tilted his head back with his eyes still closed. He smeared the precum, that was already leaking out of him around and the water made it easier to stroke along his length. He teased himself, switching between fast and hard strokes to slow and tender ones, not stopping the moans and whined that were coming out of his throat. 

He let his other hand slide over his left nipple, circling and pinching it. He always has been sensitive on his nipples. 

He lets go of his cock for a second, playing with his balls. Harry leaned forward, letting his forehead rest on the wall of the shower. 

He let the hand that was still playing with his nipple wander down to his rim, slowly teasing it and pressing down on it, but never going past it. 

He didn’t have much time though, he reminded himself. Louis was waiting for him 

He grabbed his cock again, starting to jerk himself of and playing with his tip. He was close already so he teased his rim a bit more and gave a few twists to his wrist before he came. His cum being washed away by the shower water that was still raining down on him and he moaned loud and filthy. 

Harry never was one to dirty talk but he was still load. Not really being able to contain his moans and whimpers. 

He opened his eyes again when he came down from his high and started to wash himself starting by his hair and then going over his body with a wash cloth. 

When he Harry was done, he turned the shower off and stepped out of it before he wrapped himself in a towel. 

He dried himself of while going out of the bath and into the main suite where he dressed himself quickly. The younger boy wrapped his hair around a bandana, because it wasn’t dried yet and he was too lazy to blow dry it. Besides, Louis was still waiting for him. 

He paired black skinny’s to his favourite purple jumper with a black bandana and pulled a jacket on before sliding in his boots. 

He grabbed his key card and walked over to Louis‘ room, knocking on the door. 

The older man opened it in no time, already dressed and ready to go. 

“Ready?“ Louis smiled up at him and Harry nodded. The younger boy was getting quiet hungry by now. 

“Where are we going?” Harry asked when they made their way into the busy streets of New York City. It wasn’t that different from London really. London could be quiet busy and filled with people, maybe not as much as this city but still. 

“You’ll see once we get there. Be patient.” Louis nudged him with his shoulders and let out a light chuckle when Harry pouted. 

The younger boy wasn’t that much of a fan of surprises. He didn’t really like the idea of not knowing what is supposed to come or happen. They walked for a bit, holding light conversation. 

“Okay Haz there we are. What do you think?” Louis came to an halt in front of a Waffle House and smiled brightly. 

Harry grinned back. “Good Choice. I do actually love waffles.”

“Thought so. C’mon.” Louis held the door for them open and they sat down in a booth at the back of the restaurant. Harry noticed that Louis chose to always sit further away from all the other guest and more in the back of restaurants in a more private area. He liked, preferred it that way. Niall always loved to sit in the middle, not wanting to miss anything that could happen and the Irish lad loved to eavesdrop on other peoples stories and made fun of them. Harry didn’t mind that much but he wasn’t a fan of it either if he was being honest. 

When a waitress came to their table they quickly placed their order. 

“So... what are we doing after breakfast?” Harry asked after a few moments. 

“Well I said I’d show you Times Square didn’t I? And after that I honestly don’t know. Thought we just roll with it y’know? Do you have something in mind?” Harry shook his head. 

“No, not really.” The waitress came back with their food and they both thanked her before starting to eat. Harry hummed around his fork

“I love waffles. I often do some on my own but they don’t even taste nearly as good at these.” 

“Are you kidding? Your waffles are great. I loved them!” He argued back which made the younger boy blush. 

“Thank you.” He said quietly and looked down to his food. 

“Where’d you learn to cook anyway? Because I tried it a few times and it was horrible.”

“I just picked it up from my mom I guess? I used to always cook dinner with her after I did my homework. I’ve always enjoyed it and when I moved to my flat I bought a lot of cook books and I just try them out all the time. They don’t always turn out good though and Liam and Niall are always the ones who have to try them. But you get better over time. Cook shows also help.” He explained with a shrug. 

“Maybe you can show me sometimes? I’d love to try more from you.”

“Yeah of course.” He smiled softly and looked into Louis’ blue eyes that were looking back at him as softly. 

*

“Welcome to Times Square love.” They stood side by side and Harry took in all the billboards. 

“It’s huge. Way bigger than I expected. Makes you feel small.” He tilted his head back and looked at the billboards that were promoting different things. 

“Is that something good?” Louis asked him from the side and he turned his head to him, looking a little bit confused. The older man cleared his throat before answering. “Feeling small I mean? Is that something good?”

“I don’t know. I think it depends on what situation you’re in right? At this moment I don’t mind. I like it. I blend in with the crowd. I don’t stand out but there are moments where you feel small and useless. Where you feel like everything’s bigger and scary. This kind of feeling small is bad. So it depends right?” 

“Yeah,” Louis breathed. “I think that makes sense.” Blue eyes met green. This moment felt intimate and neither of them understood by but both felt it. They were in a place which thousands of other people and it felt like they were alone right now. 

Louis felt pretty fucking big right now and Harry kind of did too. 

They were interrupted by someone walking into Harry, which made the younger boy shriek and stumble against Louis, who quickly grabbed him by his waist to steady him. 

“Watch were you walk idiot.” His boss muttered and the man, who collapsed against Harry apologised before rushing of. 

“You alright love?” Louis looked down to Harry who was still pressed against him his hands steady in Harry’s waist. 

“Yeah...yeah I guess. ‘Was just startled. Thank you.” He took a step back and straightened. Louis looked at him for a second and then turned around. 

“C’mon let’s walk a bit maybe you find something you can bring Niall and Liam and your mom yeah?” Harry followed him. 

“Yeah, that’d be nice.”

*

He ended up buying Niall m&ms at m&m world and for Liam a marvel figure, knowing that he collected them. It felt like buying presents for children but he supposed his best friends were exactly that. Five year olds that were trapped inside the body’s of 24 year olds. 

For his mom he bought a scented candle. It wasn’t anything fancy but his mom loved them more than anything really. 

Next time they stepped out of a store it was dark outside which made the Times Square look even more beautiful and Harry was astonished by the beautifulness of the place they were in. 

“What do you think about dinner, hmm?” Louis asked him and Harry blinked a few times before he nodded.

“Yeah, dinner sounds great. Feels like forever since we ate.” They had just a quick snack for lunch, nothing special or really filling so it felt like the waffles from this morning where the only thing they’ve eaten today. 

“A few blocks from here is a nice restaurant.” Louis lead the way and Harry’s eyes widen when they stopped in front of the restaurant. 

“Louis that’s way to expensive we can’t go in there.”

“Of course we can. C’mon.”

“No Lou. We’re not even dressed properly and besides I can’t pay it.”

“Love I pay of course and it doesn’t matter that we’re not dressed properly. I have enough money that they won’t even look at our clothes. C’mon H. It’s really good.” He tugged on his arm and pulled him forward a bit. 

“Louis no. I don’t want you to pay for something that’s this expensive.” 

The restaurant was well known around the world basically and Harry refused to step into it. Not even if he was dressed properly, which he really wasn’t. Louis even got a stain on his jeans. 

“Harry I want to eat there please. Don’t argue it’s fine I promise. I’ve been here multiple times before.” Harry crossed his arms and shook his head. 

“I’ll fire you if you don’t come in with me.”

“No you won’t. Stop being silly.”

“A 100% I would.” The blue eyes locked with his, staring him down until Harry had to look away. Louis smiled smugly, knowing he won. 

“That’s not fair Lou. I want to repay you somehow.”

Harry argued while he follows his boss in the restaurant. 

“I’ll think about something.” Harry stayed a few steps behind Louis when the older man got them seats. He let his eyes trained on the ground once he saw how good the people were dressed inside the restaurant. It made him uncomfortable. 

“I take you to your table.” A waiter appeared with a smile and Harry felt Louis hand on his lower back, gently moving in further. The hand burned on his back and he wasn’t sure if he was comforted by it or not because he felt the eyes on them when they walked by the tables but he didn’t dare to look up. 

“It’s fine H, I promise.” Louis said quietly into his ear and he nodded with a shaky smile before sitting down in the booth. Once again he was thankful for Louis to choose a rather private area where not many people could see them. 

Louis slides in next to him and they sat closed while they studied the menu. 

Harry who was feeling overwhelmed by the names and prices of the feeling looked helplessly to Louis when it was time for them to place their order. 

“He’ll take the same and please bring me your best bottle of wine. Thank you.” They handed the menus back and Harry leaned back. 

It was a beautiful place. Really. But he felt misplaced. He didn’t belong here. 

“H, c’mon relax. It’s just a restaurant you won’t see anyone of these people again in your life and even then it doesn’t matter. Enjoy it.” His eyes darted to the older man and he sighed. 

“I’ll try it’s just... it’s weird and I feel judged.” 

“You don’t have to. I promise.” Harry sighed again but just nodded this time.

The food tastes great. Of course it did, Harry didn’t expect anything else and the window was good too. He already felt tipsy after the first glass and noticed how he relaxed and became looser. He didn’t stop Louis from pouring him another glass. 

“Do you want dessert?” Harry eyes widen with excitement at the question and he nodded eagerly. 

“Yes please!” Louis chuckled and nodded. 

“What do you want?” 

“Chocolate cake and strawberries. Do you think they have some?”

“Well they better find some if not.” Louis waved a waiter over and ordered the things. Harry smiled happily when he heated that they in fact did have strawberries. His smile brightened when the dessert arrived. Louis quickly asked for the bill before the waiter left. 

He grabbed the fork and took a bite of the chocolate cake, closing his eyes and letting out a moan at the good taste. 

Louis’ eyes snapped to him and his eyes were glued to Harry’s lip. 

“Lou, it’s so good you should try some!” He handed him the fork. Louis took a bite. It did taste really good. 

Harry grabbed a strawberry while Louis ate some of the cake and dipped it into the whipped cream that was brought with it and took a bite from it, sucking on it to stop the juice from dribbling out of his mouth unsuccessfully so because a drop of strawberry juice made his way down his chin and he wiped it away with his thumb, sucking on it as well. 

He did all of it while starring shamelessly in Louis eyes and the blue eyes did not once leave Harry’s face or movements. The fork that he was still holding lingered somewhere between his mouth and the cake, knuckles turned white by of hard he was gripping down on it. 

Neither of them stopped the eye contact and Louis gulped. Tipsy Harry was apparently a fucking tease.

The clearing of a throat ripped them out of their bubble and Louis blinked a few times before looking away from Harry who was now blushing and smiling. He gave Harry the fork back so that he could finish the cake and readjusted the seat, hoping no one saw the bulge in his pants. 

A waiter was standing their with the bill and Louis took it and payed, tipping them generously. 

He leaned back and sipped the rest of his wine while Harry ate his strawberries and cake. 

Neither of them brought up the situation when they stepped out of the restaurant. 

“I had fun today.” Harry stated while they started to walk back to their hotel and Louis hummed. 

“It was a good day.” 

They walked a bit in a comfortable silence, with Harry trying not to fall over his feet and Louis trying to think about his grandma so that his hard on would disappear. 

Suddenly he was pulled back by Harry, who apparently had stopped walking and he looked confused up to him. 

“Let’s get tattoos please!” Harry begged and stared at the tattoo shop that had a neon sign with _open_ written on it in front of them. 

“I don’t know H. You’re drunk and-“

“I’m not drunk just a little bit tipsy I’m fully aware of everything.” Harry knew exactly what he was implying with saying that and Louis did too. 

“Okay. Sure. Cool, cool, _cool_. Let’s get tattoos. But I want to see yours first. Don’t want you to get something stupid!” 

“Can’t we design each other’s tattoos?” Harry made puppy eyes at Louis and pouted. Honestly who could say no to that? Louis definitely couldn’t. 

“I swear to god Harry if you draw anything inappropriate I’ll kill you!” He warned him and the younger boy smiled excitedly before quickly walking up the two stairs that lead up to the shop. 

They quickly explained their plan and the tattoo artist nodded and gave them paper and pens. 

“Just draw whatever it should be and come back to me when you’re done.” The guy explained and their nodded. 

“Okay so who wants to go first?” He asked them when he made the stencils. 

Harry quickly stepped back and pointed to Louis who glared at him. 

“Okay follow me.” 

“I swear to god H if you chicken out or gave me something stupid I kill you.”

“It’s not stupid and I’ll do it I just get a little nervous every time I get a new tattoo. Don’t worry and don’t forget you’re not allowed to look at it!” 

“I won’t.” Louis sighed and sat down on the chair. 

“Where do you want it?” Louis held out his right arm, where already a bunch of other tattoos where and pointed to a free space over a paper plane. 

“Is this enough space?” He looked up to the tattoo artist who nodded. 

“Okay look away mate. It’s a surprise after all right?” Louis sighed and looked to his left were Harry was standing and smiling brightly. 

“I’m excited.”

“Yeah, I can see that.” Louis felt the needle on his skin now and concentrated on Harry who tried to peak at what the tattoo artist was doing. 

It didn’t took long because it wasn’t that big of a tattoo and the guy taped it up and pulled the sleeve of his shirt down. 

“You know how to take care of it?” He assumed and Louis nodded. It wasn’t his first tattoo after all. 

“Your turn kid.” The tattoo artist tapped the seat in which Louis just seconds ago sat in and he sat down. 

“I want it here.” He tapped on a spot on his left arm, near his shoulder and the guy nodded. 

“Okay, then take off your shirt.” Harry did as he was told and Louis suddenly thought that the ceiling looked way more interesting. 

“Cute.” The tattoos artist looked at Harry’s stomach where the butterfly was. 

Louis glanced down but looked up again, only seeing vague outlines of it. 

Thing is, when Harry was drunk and Louis basically stripped him of his clothes he didn’t dare to look anywhere that was lower than his face because it just felt wrong, inappropriate and he didn’t want to overstep borders. But he still noticed the tattoos that were scattered around Harry’s stomach and breast and arm and he’d like nothing more than to just look at them, learn their stories behind them and maybe trace them with his finger. 

Harry’s tattoo took even less time and soon they were standing at the front again, paying for the tattoos. 

“Thank you Lou. Thank you so much.” Harry laughed and Louis smiled confused. 

“For what?” 

“Just everything. I just... I haven’t felt this carefree in years. I feel young.”

“Well you are young, Harold.” 

“I know but it’s different. It’s so different right now and I love it.”

“Well, I’m glad about that then.” And maybe he didn’t understood quite what Harry meant right now but he hasn’t seen him this happy since he’s known him and he couldn’t contain the smile that was tugging on his lips. 

“C’mon Lou!” Harry started tugging on his sleeves and in a matter of seconds they were running down the streets of New York City. People were turning around and screaming at them and Louis’ sure that he pushed some strangers out of his way but it didn’t matter. Because they were young and laughing and care free and there wasn’t a thing in the world that could bring them down from their high in this moment. This moment was everything. This moment got treasured by both of them and they would never forget how they felt.

They ran all the way back to their hotel, laughing and Louis won. Because even though he’s not as tall as Harry he’s got speed. 

Harry collapsed against his body and hugged him. 

“ _Thank you Louis Tomlinson_.” 

*

Harry stared at the  _ Hi  _ that would be in his body forever. He moved his arm around, looking at it from different angles. 

He loved it. The green eyed boy stepped out of the bathroom and smiled at his boss. 

“I love it.” He told him and Louis got up from where he was leaning against the wall with his arms and legs crossed. 

“Lemme see.” Harry liftet the sleeve of his T-shirt and turned his arm so that Louis could look at the tattoo. Louis held his arm and studied the tattoo. 

“Looks pretty fucking good if you ask me.” He grinned at Harry and let go of his arm again, leaving chills on the spots he touched him. 

“Now show me yours.” Louis pulled the sleeve of his pullover up and showed him the  _ oops  _ Tattoo that Harry chosen for him. 

Harry carefully stroke over it with his pointer finger and smiled. 

“I like it. It fits your other tattoos.”

“Yeah, it does. I like it a lot.” Louis said with honesty in his voice. 

“Is it weird?” Harry let himself fall down on the couch that was standing in Louis room and pulled his legs to his chest. 

“What?” Louis sat down on the other side, one leg on the couch on on the floor. 

“What we did last night? Like we don’t know each other for that long and getting a tattoo that the other one designed. It’s kind of crazy right? But it feels like I’ve known you for longer then just a few months. I doesn’t make sense and I’m probably just in my head but-“

“I get it Haz,” Harry looked up with big eyes at Louis who smiled softly at him. “I think so too. And that’s why I think it’s not crazy or weird. Do you regret it?” 

“No. Not at all. I would do it again.”

*

The flight back seemed shorter then the first flight to New York and Harry was happy when they were in London again. And he was also fucking tried because apparently the jet lag on the way back hits harder. 

He was currently leaning against a wall, with his eyes closed waiting for Louis’ driver. It was raining and Harry just wanted to sleep. 

“Try to stay awake until you’re in the car.” Harry winced slightly when Louis’ voice appeared next to him and he blinked his eyes open, trying to send him an annoyed look. 

“Oi someone’s grumpy when their tired.” He pinched Harry’s side which made him shriek and turn away. 

“Lou stop it.” He grumbled and leaned back against the wall. The older boy just laughed and shook his head. 

“Why aren’t you tired?” Harry mumbled and closed his eyes again. 

“Jet lag doesn’t happen to me. I don’t know why just good luck I guess.”

Harry would roll his eyes if he had the strength. He didn’t. He felt tired and weird and had a headache as well. 

“The car’s here. C’mon love. Give me your suitcase.” The younger boy did as he was told and walked towards the car, quickly stepping inside the warmth. He slides over to the right and leaned his head against the cold window, which was soothing for his headache. 

He closed his eyes again and barely even noticed when Louis closed the door and the driver startet to drive. 

The way up to his flat and into his bed happened all in a blurr. The last thing he remembered before falling asleep was Louis closing his flat door. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think AND let me know if you want to have anything happen in this story. Like do you have any ideas or want anything tell me. I promise I listen. xxx  
> Thank you for reading and don’t forget to comment!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there Besties <3  
> This chapter his shitty and it’s a filler I guess but this story is slow burn so you have to live with it  
>  But Louis calls Harry love and honestly I live for it.

Harry had a day off today and he didn’t plan on doing anything besides staying on his couch and binge his favourite tv show, which in the moment would be Dawson’s creek. And even though he has been back in London for a few days now, he wasn’t quite adjusted to the time zone and still suffered with jet lag. 

Louis on the other hand, told him he was completely fine when Harry called him and complained about. It made the younger boy roll his eyes and he had the urge to just hang up on his boss because why didn’t he suffer but Harry? While describing all of his symptoms to Louis and asking if he should see a doctor- which by the way no, Harry was just overreacting and a drama queen, Louis listened and let Harry rumble about everything and anything really. 

( _“Can you die from jet lag?” “No Haz you can’t.” “Are you sure about that because it feels like it.” “Yes I’m sure and besides you wouldn’t be talking to me right now if you’d be dying, right?” “I’m not fully convinced yet.” “Trust me love, you’re not going to die you’re just sleep deprived.”_ )

One thing he did this morning was mediate, hoping it would calm him and to process everything that happened on his trip to New York. It did help and now the younger boy was sitting on his couch, with veggie chips because really what else? And he watched his show. What he didn’t except where Niall and Liam who appeared out of nowhere and stood in from of his tv. 

Harry paused his show and sat up straight, making room for his two best friends who immediately slumped down on the couch. 

“Hey guys.” He smiled bright at them, happy to see them again because they haven’t been able to catch up yet. Niall snatched the bag of chips out of Harry’s hands, grabbed some and stuffed them in his mouth before he immediately stood up and ran into the kitchen to spit them out again. Harry and Liam shared a look before bursting out in loud laughter, tears building in their eyes and their hands pressed to their tummy’s. 

“Seriously H, what the fuck was that?” Niall face was painted in disgust, the corner of his mouth hanging low. Still laughing, he held the bag up and Niall looked even more disgusted. “Warn a man before trying to poison him.” 

“They’re good, bring your own food the next time you visit or announce your visit so that I could actually prepare something.”

“Mhh,” Niall pushed his bottom lip out, acting like he would think about what Harry said, “no, I don’t think that’s an option for us, right Li?” He looked at Liam who nodded. 

“He’s right besides you’re used to us just dropping in you should always have something prepared.” 

“Good Point!” Niall high fives Liam which made Harry hum of and cross his arms in front of his chest. 

“The reason we’re here though is not of your disgusting food but, because we want you to tell us about New York.” 

So, Harry told them. About the flight, the first day, the meeting and evenabout the barista who wrote his number on Harry’s cup, which the green eyed, didn’t call. He didn’t even bother to write it down somewhere. When it came to Friday, he remembered the presents he had bought for his friends and quickly excused himself to get them. 

They opened them eagerly and both, Liam and Niall hugged him and thanked him, telling him it wasn’t necessary. I know, but I wanted to,was his response and Niall immediately opened the bag of m&ms, happy to have something to chew on while Harry started talking again. 

“... we went into this restaurant later that night and it was an expensive one, one where you usually have to make reservations ages before you can eat there right? And we weren’t dressed properly and I complained but Louis insisted that we would go. I don’t even know how he managed to get us a table. The food was delicious though.” 

“So you guys were on a date than?” Liam asked with furrowed brows and took some of Nialls m&ms which made the Irish guy hit him in return. 

“What? No! God no, that wasn’t a date. We were just enjoying our last day in New York. As friends.” He was quick to defend and Liam chuckled. 

“Sounds like a date to me. Did you guys have dessert?” Niall charmed in. 

“Yeah, but-“

“And did he pay?” Liam interrupted again. 

“Yeah, he did but-“

“See, it’s a date.”

“No it’s not. You two are stupid. Don’t you think I would know when it was date? You know, since I actually was there?” Harry pushed the memory, of what happened while they ate dessert in the back of his mind. He wasn’t 100% sure what he actually wanted to archive with it. He just found it amusing to rile Louis up, which obviously worked. 

Liam and Niall shrugged but gave each other knowingly looks which made Harry furrow his brows now. 

“Anyway, after we ate we got tattoos.”

“You what?!” His best friends gasped and searched Harry’s arm their eyes looking for something new. They couldn’t see it though, because it was more so on the inside of his upper arm. He tugged his T-shirt sleeve up and turned his arm so that his best friends could see the tattoo. 

“Weird, what does it mean? Don’t all of you’re tattoos have some kind of deeper meaning?” Niall asked and looked up at Harry again seemingly not impressed. 

“No, they don’t ...not really I think,” he said with a soft voice,” Louis designed it.” Liams and Nialls eyes grew even wider at that. 

“He designed it? That’s his writing?” Harry nodded with a soft smile at Liams question. 

“And what did he get?” 

“I wrote ‘oops’ and he has it on his right under arm.” 

“I don’t understand it. Why ‘oops’?” Niall questioned again and he honestly wondered if they had some unspoken rule that they would switch who would ask the next question. 

“I don’t know, I just thought it fitted his style of tattoos they all look like doodles and some are really bad. So why not?”

“H, honestly for some people it’s a really big thing to get matching tattoos. You don’t do that with someone you just met. It’s a commitment that’s very intimate.”

Harry huffed and rolled his eyes at Liams words. 

“We were drunk, we had fun and I thought, why not get tattoos. They don’t have a deeper meaning nor are they related in any way and they’re for sure no couple tattoos. It doesn’t have to do anything with commitment or intimacy.” 

He didn’t like the reactions of Niall and Liam and now thought, it would’ve been better if he would’ve just kept this to himself. 

“Okay so let me get this straight. You and Louis spent an entire day together, from eating breakfast to shopping in times square and then eating at a fancy restaurant, get drunk, give each other tattoos in the handwriting of the other just to call this not a date?” Harry blushed a deep red and bit his lip. Sure it sounded a lot like a date when you put it like that but it just wasn’t. He and Louis were friends and nothing more. He told his friends so. 

“But you’re both gay.”

“Honestly Niall if you say that once more I’ll punch you!” Harry muttered, now seemingly pissed. Niall just laughed and ruffled his curls which made him swat his hands away and glare at the Irish. 

“I don’t even know what you want to hear from me.” He noted after a while of silence and looked at Liam. His teddy bear brown eyes were looking soft and warm and Harry relaxed a little bit. 

“Nothing H. It’s fine.” He replied and gave him a smile. 

“Speaking of it, we visited your mom and she squeezed us out like toothpaste.” Liam and Harry both looked at Niall, who was seated between them and their faces were paint in confusion. 

“She asked so many questions I felt like I was being interrogated.” Harry chuckled and his heart felt a little bit lighter because apparently she had a good day when she asked many questions and talked a lot. 

“Asked me if I had a girlfriend and when me and Lima would settle down with kids and shit.” Niall explained and Liam nodded his head at Niall words. 

“When we told her that we both were single she started to actually scold us. This woman’s crazy I tell ya!” Harry laughed and pulled his legs to his chest. 

“Not funny Haz! We apologised to her for it. Like she really got us to apologise for not having settled down and a girlfriend yet. Is she like that with you too?” He shook his curls, still grinning widely with dimples poking deep into his chest. 

“She’s pretty chill about it actually.”

“Well good for you because with us it’s apparently different! Love your mom though man. And she’s hot.”

“Ew Niall what the fuck you ruined it!” Harry hit the back of his head and scrunched his face. 

“What? It’s the truth!” This time it was Liam who hit the back of Nialls head, which made him groan and mutter swear words under his breath. 

“She asked about Louis too and you obviously.” Harry peaked up at that and waited for Liam to continue. 

“She asked how he’s like and basic stuff, nothing interesting. We just told her that he’s a nice guy and yeah... and then she asked if you were alright...”

“Well, what did you tell her?” The younger boy urged Liam to continue and his friend let out a sigh. 

“The truth H. She’s your mom and she has a right to know how you feel. Look, I know you always put this mask on when you visit her but she knows too yeah? She’s your mom, of course she notices and just... you don’t have to do that.”

“What did you say to her?” He asked again, voice more pressed and eyes darted towards Liam. 

“That you have better days, and worse days and that it’s hard for you. Like the situation with her and her condition and... with Gemma. That it takes a lot out of you. We told her the truth... at least as far as we know it.” Harry’s eyes were burning and tears were building in them. 

“You shouldn’t have done that!” He muttered angrily and stood up from his place in the couch, Liam shortly behind him. 

“Why not Harry? Huh? She’s your mom and she was worried for you because she’s not fucking blind and she knows when her son acts differently-“ 

Harry interrupted Liam. “Shut up!” Liams voice was getting louder and louder with every word that he said and Harry hated it. He didn’t want to hear it and he hated being screamed at. The tears were streaming down his face now and he forced himself to take deep breaths. “You two should leave now.” He walked out of the living room and into his bedroom, where he closed and locked the door behind him. 

Exhausted, he leaned against the door and slid down until he was sitting on the floor with his legs pressed to his chest. When he heard the muffled voices of Liam and Niall and then the shutting of his door, he allowed the sobs to break out of his chest.

The boy was mad. At his mom for being sick in the first way, at Gemma for not talking to him, Liam and Niall because they didn’t understand and at himself the most because he knew that Niall and Liam just want to help, and that it wasn’t only Gemmas fault that they didn’t talk anymore and that his mom of course didn’t chose to get sick.  _He knew okay_? But that didn’t make it easier in anyway. 

When he found the strength to stand up from his spot on the floor, he made the few steps over to his bed. Harry let himself fall down on it and fell asleep in a matter of seconds. 

*

“Oi, look whose made it back among the living. See I told you, you wouldn’t die. Feeling better?” Louis greeted him the next day. 

“Yeah.” He simply stated. He was still haunted by the events of yesterday. His sleep was restless and his head was full with thoughts. 

“Harry?” His boss was still standing in his door when he looked up with a hum, waiting for him to continue. 

“Are you alright, do you want another day off? I promise it wouldn’t be a problem.” His voice was soft but raspy. The younger boy gulped. 

“I’m fine I think the jet lag is still not fully gone though.” Louis studied him, trying to read him and Harry looked away not strong enough to hold eye contact with those blue eyes. 

The older man sighed after a few moments,”Okay, there’s a meeting in half an hour. If you’re feeling up to it than you’re welcome to join it. If not, than it’s fine if you go home.” 

Harry looked up to Louis as he turned around and nodded. 

“Thank you, I’ll be there.” His voice was quiet and shaky and he didn’t trust it. Not today.

Louis didn’t say anything, just made his way back into his office. When it was time for the meeting Harry grabbed the things he would need and walked out of his office. Just in time the door to Louis‘ office opened and the man walked out of it with his eyes trained to his phone. 

Harry took the time until Louis would notice him to look at the man. His hair was styled in its usual way and he was wearing a grey suit that fitted him perfectly. He looked good, handsome even. He let out a quiet laugh at something on his phone and Harry would really like to know at what he was looking that made him laugh. 

Louis looked up, “oh, you’re still here?” He questioned and put his phone away. 

“Yeah, told you I would.” Louis gave Harry a warm smile. 

“I know. Just thought I’d heard you leave.” Harry shook his head and they walked to the elevator where they both moved to press the button. Both pulled their hands back again and chuckled awkwardly. 

“Uhm...” Harry cleared his throat and stared at the button that was still not blinking it’s green light to show that the elevator was up their way. 

“I’ll do it love.” Louis leaned forward again and pressed it which lead to them standing their in an awkward silence for a few moments. Harry was blushing a deep red when the doors finally opened. 

“Oh...I didn’t… didn’t know,” Harry gulped as they came to an halt with the elevator and walked out of it. Louis looked at him, with worry and stopped them. “What didn’t you know?” His voice was had a gentle tone. 

“I didn’t know that the meeting would be here. I didn’t check before.” He finally said and looked up to Louis. 

“I thought you knew and that maybe seeing Liam would make you a bit happier...” Harry huffed angrily. “…or not.” Louis added with a frown. 

“Do you want to go Harry?” His hand wandered to Harry’s arm and squeezed it lightly and the younger boy shook his head. 

“It’s fine.” He mumbled and looked away from Louis. “Let’s just go.”

His boss let out an “Okay,” before following Harry into the room. 

They sat down at their usual spot and Harry didn’t look up. Not when everyone else made their way in and greeted their boss and especially not when Liam came in and started the meeting. 

He didn’t listen, not really. He looked down in his lap and played with his rings or he looked at the file that was laying in front of him, acting like he would read it. 

He of course noticed Louis’ eyes on him and he also noticed Liam staring at him and even though it felt uncomfortable having their gazes on him for at least 45 minutes he did not once look up. When the meeting was over, people were quick to leave the room so that only Liam, Louis and him were left because of fucking course. 

He grabbed his things and stood up from his seat, his eyes still trained on the floor. 

“Haz, can we talk? Please?” Liam was still standing at the one end of the table, next to the screen where his presentation was on. 

“I don’t want to.” He clasped his laptop and the file tighter against him and started to walk again. 

“Harry come on. Please!” 

“I don’t want to talk Liam.” He looked up at his friend. Liam with his teddy bear eyes that looked at him apologetic and also worried and honestly he was sick of it. Of people constantly worrying about it. 

“Stop acting like a fucking child for once Harry would you?” He blinked dumbly at Liam whose voice raised a bit at the end. His mouth stood open a bit while Liam crossed his arms over his chest and looked at him angrily. 

“You had no right to react the way you did yesterday but here you are acting like a bratty child!” 

“Fuck you Liam.” Tears were burning in his eyes and he looked away from him again. 

“I don’t need to listen to this. Fuck you and fuck Niall!” Harry’s voice wasn’t loud but it was angry. 

“No Harry. That’s what you always do, you run away from the truth and you push away those who want to help you! You did that with Gemma and now you’re doing it with me and Niall and-“

“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” He wanted to run away, wanted hold his eyes but he couldn’t because Liam had moved in front of the door and he was still holding his things and everything was just  _too much_. 

Just as Liam wanted to open his mouth again Louis voice stopped him. 

“I think that’s enough Mr Payne! You should keep your private affairs out of the job. I’m sure there’s lot of work still to do today. If you excuses us now.” Harry honestly had forgotten that Louis was still in the room but he was thankful for it. The mans voice was dominant and steady and Liam had no choice than to leave the room. 

Louis moved from his place from the back of the room in front of Harry, who was still standing on the same spot, looking at the door where Liam just walked out of. 

“Harry, hey everything alright? C’mon, look at me love. You’re okay. You’re okay look at me.” Louis hands cupped his cheeks and turned his head towards him. Harry blinked a few times until his eyes focused on the man in from of him. 

“You’re alright. Everything’s okay.” He wiped the tears away that were still streaming down Harry’s face. 

“C’mon, come with me.” Louis tugged some loose hair strained behind Harry’s ear and thentook his stuff out of his hands. 

“I’ll take that alright?” Harry didn’t react, just let Louis take it and let himself be lead out of the room. Louis’ free hand moves to the small of his back and it surprisingly made him feel grounded and safe. 

“Wait here.” Harry leaned against the wall when they were back on their floor and after a few moments Louis was next to him again. 

“Alright let’s go.” He let his hand rest on Harry’s back again and lead him to the staircase. 

“Go up.” His raspy voice send shivers down Harry’s spine and he slowly made his way up the stairs. When they came to a door Louis carefully opened it and let Harry walk through, before taking a grey brick stone and placing it so, that the door wouldn’t close off on them. 

Harry watched Louis absently, not really focusing on what the older man was doing just making sure he’d stay with him kind of. 

“I come here, when I’m upset and want to have a smoke or just want to be alone. No one knows that this place exist, it’s the top of the building obviously,” Louis chuckled lightly and walked over to Harry again, carefully taking his hand and leading him to the edge, where just a small brick wall was stopping them from walking off. 

“You know how we talked about feeling small?” He didn’t wait for Harry to answer. “When I’m here, I never feel small. It makes me feel big and kind of mighty. I look down and your problems start to look small. You can see over London from here.” 

Harry listened carefully to what Louis was saying and it was true. You had a perfect view over London from here. 

“I don’t come here often but I sometimes need it and I think you could need it right now.” 

Harry tilted his head back and looked up at the sky. It was grey and cloudy and he was sure it would rain later today. It looked how he felt kind of. Today was a grey day. 

They were quiet for a bit, just in their thoughts and while Harry looked over London, he didn’t noticed that Louis was looking at him. 

“If you want to talk about it, I’ll listen if you don’t want me to I won’t even say anything.” 

“Liam never screams.” He said after a few beats and sat down, with his back to the brick wall and he bend his legs so that they were forming a triangle with the ground. Louis was quick to sit down next to him. 

“Liam has always been the most mature out of us and he would always try to find a solution with words. He always tried to understand every view before judging. He’s nice. Always nice and Niall is oblivious to everything and he too never screams. We barely argue and when we do it’s about silly stuff but Liam got so mad yesterday. Niall didn’t say anything but Liam was mad.” He swallowed and looked up to the sky again. His throat was feeling dry. 

Louis still didn’t say anything just listened to whatever Harry was willing to tell him. 

“Is he right?” Harry looked to his left were Louis was sitting. His big doe eyes looking into Louis wiring for an answer. 

“I don’t know H. Maybe, maybe not. I don’t know why you argued in the first place.” 

“Thank you for making him go... I couldn’t... I...”

“It’s fine Love. It was the only right thing to do. You were close to a panic attack and he didn’t stop.”

“We argued about my mom... you know, I always want to make her happy. That has priority when I visit her. So I always make sure to be positive when I visit her no matter how I feel and you would do the same right?” 

“Maybe. I’m not in the situation you are Harry. I have no idea what I would do.” 

“I often break down after I visited her because it just gets too much y’know? Seeing your mom, like this it just… it takes a lot. Liam and Niall don’t understand. Of course they don’t their families are healthy but it’s so hard Lou. So fucking hard. But I don’t want to feel her bad about it. It’s not her fault she’s sick or that she’s in a hospital so I always make sure to make her happy even when I’m not.” He paused and took a few breaths. 

“It’s a mask you put on Harry.” Harry huffed. 

“That’s what Liam said as well. But is that something bad? I want her to focus on her and to get healthy again. But Liam doesn’t understand and It makes me mad.”

“They visited her when we were in New York and my mom asked about me and Liam said they told her everything. About how I feel and what I do and I know that I’m not doing really great but she didn’t have to know. She shouldn’t worry about that!” 

“She’s your mom love, don’t you think she notices when her son doesn’t feel right?”

“It doesn’t matter because now she knows anyway. I got mad at Liam for that. She needs to focus on herself and I’m scared that she won’t be able to do that when she worries about me. She already is worrying about Gemma and me and I’m working on it. I’ll try to fix it but it’s not easy. I want her to be healthy again and that can only happen when she’s stress free.”

“Harry, you told me it was incurable.” He said quietly and Harry eyes shot to him. 

“There’s always a chance Lou and I’m not giving up on that. There’s always a chance!” 

Louis’ heart kind of shattered with Harry’s words. 

“I don’t want her to die.” 

“I know love.” He took Harry’s hand and intertwined their fingers. The younger boy looked at their hands but didn’t say anything and smiled softly when he felt Louis squeeze it. 

“What am I supposed to do?” Harry looked into Louis’ blue eyes again and his were helpless and scared. 

“Talk to Liam and Niall. Tell them you want to talk to them as explain them how you feel. But make sure that you’re all calm and that they listen before they talk. They’re your best friends and you live each other, I’m sure they only want what they think is best for you. And talk to your mom about it as well.”

“When...if I would talk to Liam and Niall would you come with me? I don’t want to face them alone.” 

“Of course Harry.” 

“Thank you.” He whispered back and Louis smiled softly at him. 

*

“How sick is Harry’s mom?” Louis turned to Liam who just came into his office. He had send the younger boy home with a lot of protests from his side but Louis always got his way. 

“Uhm... I’m not really in a position to tell you that.” Liam furrowed his brows and stared at Louis. 

“I talked with him about... your situation and he said something that... I think he thinks that his mom has a chance of healing but the day when we were in the bar and he was drunk he told me that she was incurable and that her condition got worse.” Louis explained to Liam and they sat down. 

“The chances, that Anne will get cured are pretty much non existing Louis. She’s... she’s really sick. And it gets worse, yeah. Why does Harry think she get better?”

“I don’t know but he believes strongly in it.”

“That’s not good. Not at all.” Liam muttered and looked down. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello cuties  
> What did you think of the chapter? Let me know! also how slow does slow burn burn because I have no idea...


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Besties!!! We’re at chapter 10 already and all of your comments make me so happy! I love to read them I love you. 
> 
> Okay this chapter has 6000 words I sat the whole day on it and I’m fucking tired right now because it’s like 12 pm where I live and I have a video conference at 9 am and I wont survive and I also have a headache.  
> But there’s so much drama! 
> 
> A new character ( starts with Z ends with ayn)
> 
> And a new pet name! 
> 
> Crazy, I know. 
> 
> Also I don’t know why but somehow I always make one of the boys an arse. Sorry in advance

Louis and Harry stepped into the Café where they would be meeting Liam and Niall. They decided to go somewhere openly with many people. 

Harry hadn’t talk to Liam or Niall for about a week now and he did miss his friends for sure but he was also still mad at them, Liam mostly. Louis had his hand on the small of his back, something that happens more often now but still send a shiver down his spine every time and made him blush profusely. The older man guided them to the table, where Niall and Liam were already sitting and talking with each other. 

If they noticed Louis hand on Harry’s back, they didn’t say anything about it. 

“Hey Harry, Louis.” Liam greeted them and Niall nodded. It was weird. So fucking weird and awkward Harry just wanted to leave again. That’s not how it was supposed to be. 

They greeted them back and sat down on the opposite side of Liam and Niall. 

“Do you want something? I can order it.” Louis asked into the group and they all nodded, happy to be distracted by choosing what they would like to drink. 

When Louis went to the counter to order their drinks Liam took a deep breath and Niall nodded at him reassuringly. “Harry, we-“ 

“Uhm... could we maybe wait until Louis gets back?” He quietly interrupted the brown eyed boy whose shoulders slagged down at that. 

“Yeah, of course.” So they sat there in silence for a few minutes, until Louis came back with their drinks somehow managing to carry them all. They all thanked him and Harry immediately took a few sips from his smoothie. 

“Harry, me and Niall both want to apologise. I didn’t mean to react the way I did, I know you hate being screamed at and it was wrong of me. It’s just that you bottle all of your emotions up and keep them to yourself. You rarely talk about anything with us but me and Niall both think that it would be the best for you, if you would talk about how you feel.” Liam starts and looks at Niall, silently asking him for help. 

“We love H, we do but Liams right. You keep pushing those away that want to help you. We don’t mean to be rude or anything, it’s just the truth and we worry about you. Anne does to.”

“That’s why I didn’t want you tell her that. Because now she’s worried all the time because of me and that’s not how it’s supposed to be. She needs to be focusing on healing and you distracted her from that by telling her that I... I don’t even know what exactly you told her but she’s worried all the time now. Thanks to you.” Harry looked up from his drink and let his eyes wander from Liams brown ones to Nialls blue ones. 

“You’re her son Haz, of course she’s worried and we didn’t mean anything bad by telling her. She just asked and we told her what we noticed but we also know that we’re just scratching on the surface of what’s really going on inside of you.” Liam chimed in again and Niall nodded approvingly. 

“Guys, I’m fine it’s normal to have bad days when your mom is ill and in the hospital but I’m still fine.” Liam and Niall shared a look, both boys agreeing that Harry was anything but fine. Even Louis frowned but didn’t say anything he was just here for moral support. 

“Stop pushing us away and we may start to believe you.” Harry rolled his eyes. 

“I’m not even pushing you away!” He argued and crossed his arms over his chest. 

“Harry do you want me to list everything that makes me believe that you’re anything but fine? Because that list is long and I don’t have a problem sharing it with you.”

“I hate you,” he muttered and Liam rolled his eyes this time. 

“No, you don’t you just hate being confronted with the truth and that’s what me and Niall are doing right now and you close up again, I bet you’d like to run away, don’t you? Run away from you’re problems because that’s what you’re best at!”

“Liam, what the fuck dude calm down. That’s not the reason we came here!” Niall looked at Liam with both shock and angriness. 

“I don’t run away from my problems Liam.”

“Oh but you do Harry, you did it with Nick and you did it with Gemma and I know for a fact that you almost did the same to your mom too!” Harry’s eyes were burning with tears and a few slipped out. That’s not what he expected from this talk. 

“Liam, you should go, calm your thoughts and yourself you’re being a fucking prick to your best friend right now.” Liams chair scratched against the floor when he stood up at Nialls words and stormed out of the Café without saying another word. 

“He’ll get back to his senses, I’m sure. He probably just hadn’t had a good wank in a few months.” Niall said after a few months and Louis couldn’t keep the laugh from leaving his mouth. Niall grinned at him and even Harry sported a small smile. 

“H, I love you and Liam does too I honestly have no idea why he acts like a fucking cunt but I just want what’s best for you alright? And I’m not saying that you don’t know whats best for you but I believe that sometimes, everyone really needs help in seeing what would be the best for them. And maybe we can figure something out together or not. Just know that you’re not alone. You have me, and you have Louis and you have Liam, even when he is acting like a dumbfuck right now, we’re here and we don’t plan on leaving soon. I really missed you the past week and I want my best friend back.” 

“I’m sorry that I acted the way that I acted. It’s just sometimes-“

“I know Haz, okay and that’s why we want you to talk to us or find something that helps you cope with everything going on. Something healthy of course.”

“Thank you Niall.” Harry stood up from where he was sitting and moved to Niall who stood up as well. They hugged, for probably 5 minutes or something, they didn’t counted. 

“I love you too.” Harry whispered and let go of the Irish man with a soft smile. 

*

“That whole conversation was like a roller coaster, holy shit.” Louis opened the passenger seat for Harry to climb in and closed the door, once he was sitting. 

“Yeah, I didn’t expect it to turn out the way I did.” Harry mumbled back, while he connected his phone to the aux. 

“Was it okay though? Are you okay?”

“I don’t know to be honest. I’m happy that me and Niall are okay but I honestly don’t understand Liam. I’m a bit confused about him but Niall said he fixed it and I just have to believe him. It’s just out of character for Liam to react the way he did.”

Louis hummed as he thought about Harry’s words. Liam sure didn’t look like someone who gets angry quickly. He looked like a teddy bear with a few muscles too much but he looked harmless and nice. 

“It’s going to be alright. Are you going to do what Niall said?” 

“You mean talking to them?” Louis nodded. 

“I don’t know I don’t like to talk about things because I feel pressured to do so. I talk about things when I feel like it and it would feel like a therapy session if I would have to talk about my feelings and I sure as hell do not need a shrink. I’m fine.”

“You know, I have a friend who struggled with some things as well,” Louis started to form carefully,” and he has this journal, where he writes everything down. Doesn’t matter what. He writes down when he sees something he likes, when he heard a lyric or a quote that stuck out to him or when he needs to remember something. He writes his grocery lists in there and he writes in there when he’s upset. Literally everything but it helps him to cope with many of his things and maybe it helps you too.”

“Yeah... I’ll think about it. Did he show it to you?”

“No I mean he sometimes shows me passages, when he doesn’t know how to form his words or how to explain me a situation he shows me how he felt and it helps me understand him more but I never read more than he wants me to. He has a therapist though she was the one to suggest writing everything down in the first place and they often talk about his entries but as far as I know she also never looks into it or reads more than he allows.”

“I’m not sure if it would help me though I’m not... I don’t need a therapist or anything.”

Louis shrugged his shoulders,”I think it could help everyone. I tried it as well and most of my sisters do it as well as me mom. It brings something relieving with it.”

“Okay, maybe I’ll try it.” 

The next day, when Harry came to work there was a package on his desk. He sat down in his chair and opened it carefully. In it was an expensive looking brown leather notebook that was secured with a brown string out of the same leather. 

He let his fingers slide over the soft material and tugged on the string until it opened. Carefully he turned the cover and smiled at the words that were written on the first page.

_ I hope it helps. Wether you use it for your grocery list or for your thoughts and feelings. Don’t be scared to use it.  _

_ Love Louis  _

He stroked over the sloppy handwriting that belonged to Louis and his smile grew only bigger. 

“I hope it is okay?” Harry jumped at the sudden voice and turned around to Louis who was standing in his door. 

“Yeah, I like it a lot. Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome love. Maybe tell Niall about it yeah? So that he isn’t as worried anymore. Did he talk to Liam?” 

“Yeah but Liam didn’t really told him anything. I don’t know.” He shrugged his shoulders and closed the journal again. 

“Mhh, weird. I’m sure it’s going to be alright though. Give him some time and space and he probably will come to you.”

“You think he has to reach out?”

“I think that you both could reach out but I understand it if you wouldn’t. He went to far yesterday and was being a dick. It wasn’t fair for you.”

“What if he’s right?” Harry question anxiously and looked to Louis. 

“Well, is he?” The older man asked back and Harry shook his head. 

“No, no he’s not. He was overreacting. At least that’s what I think. I don’t know but I don’t like the situation.“

“It’ll get better, I’m sure.” Louis gave him a comforting smile that made Harry feel warm. 

When Louis was gone he opened the journal again and stared at the empty sides. Maybe it would help after all. 

*

As soon as he stepped into the hospital he was met with the strong smell of sanitizer and that certain smell, that just screamed hospital but wasn’t describable. He scrunched his nose and walked over to the elevator, two paper cups filled with tea in his one hand. 

He pressed the button that would bring him to the floor that his mom was staying in. When the doors opened he was met by the brown eyes of his sister. Not expecting her here, Harry’s green eyes widen in surprise. 

“Gemma...I didn’t knew you’d...be here.”

“Was just about to leave.” His sister shrugged and stepped into the elevator. 

“Are you going or not?” She asked, her voice impatiently. He followed her with his gaze and nodded, his body stiffened. 

“Uhm...yeah, yeah. I’m going. Visit mom.” He stepped out of the elevator and turned around. 

“Do you think-“ he started but was cut off by the elevator doors that were already closing. Of course. 

He let out a sigh and made way to his mom.

“I brought tea!” His voice was tinted with more excitement than you should have from tea and he gave his mom a big smile. 

“Perfect baby. Gemma was just here and she brought biscuits. We can eat them.”

“Yeah, I met her outside.” He pulled the chair that was standing on the wall to his moms bed and sat down on it, his legs resting on the bed frame, under the mattress. 

“So you know the big news already?” Anne said excitingly and Harry looked at her confused. 

“Uhm... no? We didn’t really talk just passed each other.” His moms smile turned into a sad one, making Harry feel guilty. 

“Michal proposed to her, that’s why she was here. Gemmas engaged.” Harry’s jar dropped as he looked into the happy face of his mom. 

“But...she’s really...  _ wow _ .” He gasped. “I didn’t know that it was this serious between them.”

His mom hummed. He wasn’t sure if it was a sad or a neutral tone. 

“They are. She was so happy Harry! And the way he proposed was wonderful. He is a very nice man, and sometimes comes visit me with Gems.”

“I don’t think I’ve spoken to him in the past three years... how did he propose?” Anne’s eyes lit up at that and a big smile painted her face when she started to tell him every detail. Of course he’d much rather have Gemma tell it to him but he took what he could get. 

“The way she described it, it must’ve been perfect. They went on a nice walk, leading to a beautiful arranged Picknick and you know how much Gemma loves those things! It was the same place where they had their first date. When Gemma stood up and turned around to him he was kneeling in front of her, with a beautiful ring and of course she said yes. They want to marry next summer! Isn’t that exciting?” Harry nodded though, at this point he wasn’t sure if he even would be invited. 

“Now, tell me about you.” Anne demanded and Harry shrugged. 

“Liam’s mad at me, Niall’s mad at Liam for being mad at me and I don’t know what I’m supposed to be feeling.”

“Oh, why is Liam mad? I didn’t thought he’d be capable to get mad.”

“That’s what I thought too but we haven’t talked for two weeks now. It’s stupid shit

really-“

“Honey c’mon language. I’m still you mother.” 

“Sorry mom,” he muttered and his mom gave him a satisfied smile. 

“Talk it out with him yeah?”

“I tried mom but it ended worse. He got even more mad.”

“Well, then try it again.” Harry sighed but nodded, “I’ll try my best. “

*

_ Gemmas getting married and she didn’t even tell me. Is it too late at this point? _

*

Harry was standing on the platform on the top of the company. Even though he didn’t catch everything Louis was telling him on that day, he understood what the older man meant when he said that you don’t feel small when you’re standing here. The street was busy underneath him. The people were like ants, running around going after their daily routine and he felt relaxed to just stand here.

“Hey, how are you?” He turned around to see Louis, who was walking towards him with two mugs in his hands. 

“I’m fine,” the younger boy mumbled and took the cup that was handed to him,”thanks.” Louis hummed and stood next to him looking down as well. 

“You’ve been here for a quite a while now. Thought I’d look after you and see if everything’s alright.” 

“It is, just wanted to feel big.” His voice was soft and he smiled up to Louis while their eyes met. Green and blue. 

“Ah, I see. And does it work?”

“I guess, in a way. More so when you’re standing next to me.” He teased the  _ smaller _ man who gasped offended and held his hand to his chest. 

“Cheeky bastard! At least I can walk a few steps without stumbling over air!” Louis returned and Harry pouted slightly at that. 

“Rude!” He said after a while because she couldn’t think of a good comeback. The older man laughed and shook his head. 

“Weak Harold.” Harry rolled his eyes. “Harold’s not my name.” He explained. 

“And yet, every time I call you it, you respond. Doesn’t add up if you ask me.”

“Sure  Lewis .” Louis huffed and took a sip from his tea when suddenly his phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and when he saw who called him he scrunched his face in annoyance. 

“It’s Matthews, you know the one from the gala? He’s getting on my nerves ever since. I’ve told him more often than I can count that I’m not interested to get into business with him and he still won’t leave me alone.” 

“Block his number?” Harry suggested and Louis sighed with a shook of his head. “It would just lead to him coming here.”

“Oh. Didn’t know he’s this persistent.”

“Well, the gala is what, two months, two and a half months ago? And he still is calling me,” Louis declined the call and put the phone back in his pocket,”I’ll deal with it later. C’mon now, let’s get lunch. It’s freezing up here.”

“I’m going to talk to Liam again.” Harry announced when they were sitting in Louis’ office on the couch, eating their lunch.

“How come?”

“Just talked with my mom and l hate not being able to talk to Liam and since he won’t make the first move I’m going to do it.” Louis tilted his head to the side a bit and looked at Harry. 

“Are you sure? Do you want me to come with you?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Harry said after a few moments and nodded as if he needed to prove it to himself. “I don’t know. I think it’ll be better if it’s just me and him.”

“The first time he screamed at you, you almost had a panic attack.”

“I know but it’s fine. It’s Liam and if he wants to scream at me, then I’ll let him scream.”

“That’s not how it works H.”

“Maybe, maybe not. We’ll see but I feel like Liams going to be more calm when we’re alone.”

“Whatever you say love.” Louis let out with a sigh and Harry smiled at him and nodded. 

“Trust me Lou, it’s fine.”

“I trust you but I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“Cheesy.” Harry grinned at him which made Louis roll his eyes. 

“Harry, I’m serious!” 

“Lou, I promise nothing is going to happen. I know Liam. He’s a teddy bear.” 

*

Well, turns out Harry was right after all. He went to Liams flat on the same day and they talked. A lot. And when Harry told him about his journal in which he wrote surprisingly a lot, Liam seemed to be a bit more at ease. Maybe there were still a few things that weren’t off the table (a few many really) but they were for now unimportant. Both boys apologised a lot and Harry was happy that he’s got Liam back. 

“You’re up to go to the bar? I’m sure Niall’s going to come too and if we ask Louis he may come as well.” He asked Liam hopefully. 

“Sure, I’ll call Niall you ask Louis.” Harry nodded eagerly and called Louis, quickly explaining that everything was alright again and that they wanted to go to the bar. His boss happily agreed. 

“I hope y’all don’t mind that I brought a friend of mine? This is Zayn.” All three of them eyed the beautiful looking man and I’m Harry’s head were thousand questions. 

“No, we love meeting new people. This is Liam, the curly one is Harry and I’m Niall.” Niall introduced them and Harry just nodded. 

“We’re going in then?” Louis asked and they were quick to find a booth for them to sit in. 

Harry was once again between Louis and Liam and Niall was sitting next to Zayn opposite from them. 

“Did you know that I almost became a famous golf player?” Niall started to tell Zayn, which was answered by a shook of his head. 

“Tell ya mate, crazy story..” 

“Is he serious right now?” Louis groaned and Harry chuckled. “Let him have his fun. He can’t do it with me or Liam anymore.” Louis shook his head but smiled. Zayn was listening to Nialls made up story attentively and nodded along. 

“What are we drinking today Harold?” Louis turned to him again and Harry shrugged with his shoulders. 

“I don’t know. Cocktails?” 

“Cocktails for you it is. Liam, what do you want?” 

“I just take a pint, Niall does too and I’m sure you know what Zayn wants.” Louis nodded and got out of the booth, which gave Harry time to really look at Zayn. 

The man was gorgeous, had a beautiful skin with beautiful hair and his eyes were framed by long lashes. His style was edgy but cool and Harry wondered what he was doing for a living. 

“...because of my knee, it never happened. What about you, what are you doing?” Niall suddenly asked the question and Harry started to listen to the conversation now. 

“Well I do art and sell it.” And yeah, that really fitted his vibe. 

“That’s cool mate.” Liam chimed in and Harry nodded with a smile. 

“What kind of art?” He asked and Zayns eyes shot to him. 

“I work mostly with graffiti but I also like to paint with acrylic paint or oil paint.”

“He’s very talented.” Louis came back with a tablet full of their drinks. 

“Depends on who you ask but I earn enough to get through the month without having to work somewhere else. I get to concentrate completely on my art so that’s cool.”

“How do you know Louis?” Niall then asked the question Harry was the most eager to hear. He was just curious, is all. 

“Childhood friends. We met in elementary school and kinda stuck together from there on. I ruined on of his paintings in art class and he got real mad at me and I apologised. We both kinda didn’t have friends and shared our love for Pokémon.” Louis explained and Zayn nodded. 

“He didn’t stop to annoy me until I accepted his apology.” 

“And do you live in London?” Liam asked him and he nodded. “Yeah at least for now but I’m moving to LA with my girlfriend.” Harry couldn’t explain why he felt a sudden rush of relief washing in waves over him but he did. He leaned back in his seat and sucked on the straw in his drink. The sweet taste of it drowned out the one of the alcohol. 

Depending on what he was drinking, there were different kinds of moods Harry could get into when he was drunk. When he was drinking strong thinks like whiskey, he usually got into a depressed mood but wine and cocktails, made him into a giggling mess. That’s were we are now. 

He was on his third cocktail by now and to put it easy he was having the time of his life. He couldn’t stop the giggles that were coming out of him at basically anything one of the others were saying. Niall pulled funny faces or made stupid remarks about people in the bar and being one of the main reasons Harry was laughing so much. 

“Niall c’mon stop it before people are starting complain.” Liam scolded them. 

“But we’re having fun, right Haz?” 

“Yeah Li, _we’re having fun_!” Harry pouted but immediately started to giggle when Niall pulled another funny face. 

“Man I’ve never seen him laugh so much.” Louis watched them with a raised eyebrows, though he was quite amused by them. 

“I want ‘nother cocktail!” Harry announced and looked at Louis who was blocking the way out of the booth. “Move please.” He scooted closer to him, pressing himself against the older man until he would slide out of the booth.

“Alright?” Louis steadied him in his waist when he was swaying around and Harry started at Louis hands and bursted out in giggles. 

“Get your cocktail and come back.” He mumbled confused and Harry nodded. 

“Yessir!” He giggled,  _ again  _ and walked to the barman. 

“What can I get for you?” 

“‘nother one of these cocktails. Dunno what they’re called though. They’re pink and taste like strawberries.” The barman nodded when he understood what Harry wanted and quickly prepared it for him.

He put the drink down in front of Harry and the young boy happily smiled at that. 

“I’ll pay it.” A deep voice appeared next to him which made Harry turn around. Next to him was a good looking man that was now giving him a toothy smile and paid his drink. 

“Well, thank you.” Harry said and giggled lightly. He just couldn’t control it anymore. 

“You’re welcome handsome, I’m Will.” He held his hand for Harry to shake. It was cold and sweaty, Harry didn’t like it. “Harry.”

“Are you often here? I never saw you before.”

“You could say so. Maybe we just never where here at the same time.” Will hummed and nodded. “Yeah maybe. You look very good.” The man had blondish hair and blue eyes. They weren’t the right shade of blue, Harry noticed. Though he wasn’t really sure what the right shade of blue was. He put a hand on Harry’s bicep and squeezed it lightly, taking a small step forward. 

“Are you alone here?” He said quietly and Harry looked up to him. 

“Uhm...no. With some friends.” 

“I’m sure they won’t mind if you’d left early right? I’m really attracted to you and just wanted to leave anyway when I saw you standing here and I could never say no to someone who looks this good.” Will gave Harry a cocky smile, that the younger boy by the way didn’t like at all and stepped even further into Harry’s personal space, which he also didn’t like. 

“Uhm... I don’t know... I’m...”

“Oh c’mon Harry.” His hand tightened on Harry’s arm and it started to hurt.

“No...I should... should go back....you know, to my friends.” He couldn’t see them from where he was standing at the bar. 

“Just text them that you left early. Come on you’re up for a good night. I promise you.”

“I’m pretty sure he already said no so why don’t you piss off you ugly ass.” A voice behind Will appeared which made him turn around and Harry was glad to see Louis standing there. 

“Fuck off and look for someone else to fuck this ones mine.” He grumbled and Louis face turned dark. 

“Look, I’ll give you the chance to leave right now before I punch you.” Will huffed and rolled his eyes. 

“What, you think I’m scared of a 5’4 looking boy? Watch your mouth and leave before I punch you and believe me when I say it won’t end good for you.” Harry whimpered when Louis fist hit Wills nose and an ugly crack could be heard. 

The man was quickly on Louis and punched him, so that Louis’ face flew to the right and he lost his balance. They were both grunting in pain and anger and Harry took a few steps back. They both landed a few more punches before security was pulling them apart and kicking them out of the bar. Will was lead to the back entrance and Louis to the main one. 

Niall, Liam and Zayn where quickly by Harry’s side and asked him if everything’s alright. 

“Yeah, ‘m fine. What’s with Lou.”

“He’s outside.” Zayn answered and Harry started to walk, followed by the other three. 

“...fucking, stupid- Haz are you okay?” Louis ushered to Harry and cupped his cheeks, turning his head in every direction, scanning him. 

“‘m fine Lou. You’re the one that’s bleeding.” Harry said worriedly. Louis’ lip and eyebrow had a cut to them and his right hand was starting to swell. 

“Do you need to go to the ER?” Louis shook his head. “No, doesn’t even hurt. Let’s just get home yeah?” Harry eyes him for another second before he gave in and nodded. 

“I can drive, I didn’t drink much.” Zayn offered. 

“I didn’t drink much as well, I take Niall with me.” They said there goodbyes and walked in different directions. 

“Get in the car, I want to talk to Louis for a short moment.” Zayn opened the car and Harry moved into the backseat. He looked out of the window and could see them argue about something, though he didn’t knew what it was he was sure his name was said. Louis flipped Zayn off, which was returned and then they hugged. Harry didn’t understood the world anymore. 

He was quite sobered out due to the adrenaline that was rushing through him earlier but now that it was gone he felt immensely tired. He let his eyes shut for a moment. 

“Just drive us to my place, it’s closer.” He heard Louis say, the next thing he notice is that he’s being shaken awake. 

“C’mon, we’re here.” He didn’t question where he was, just opened his eyes and slowly moved out of the car to Louis, who was holding the door open. 

“See ya mate.” Louis fist bumped Zayn through the window and Harry waved when he drive off. 

“Alright love. Gonna get you to bed now huh?” Harry yawned and nodded, while he let Louis lead him to the front door of Louis’ house, is hand resting secure on Harry’s waist. 

Louis opened the door and turned in the light in his hallway. The younger boy squinted and it took a few moments before he was adjusted to the light. 

“Lou, you look terrible.” He gasped and stepped forward. “Well thank you love.” Louis rolled his eyes but smiled still. Harry could see Louis face better in the light and could also see the blue shadow that was forming on Louis’ cheekbone. 

“We need to clean the wounds and put ice on your hand and your cheek,” Harry was now more awake,” do you have a first aid kit?” 

“I guess in the bathroom?” Louis shrugged and Harry urged him to go there. 

“In one of those,” Louis pointed to some cupboards and Harry quickly searched through them, letting out a small cheer when he found it. 

“Okay, sit down I’ll try my best.” He opened the kit while Louis sat down on the closed toilet seat. “You don’t have to do this y’know? I know that you’re tired.” Louis watched him look through everything and pick out some stuff. 

“It’s fine, I’m awake and it’s my fault so...” he wet a clean cloth and startet to clean Louis wounds. 

“It’s not your fault H.” The older man whispered , their faces just mere centimetres away from each other and he could feel Louis hot breath on his skin.Harry bit his lip in concentration and Louis hissed when he applied too much pressure on his eyebrow. 

“Sorry,” Harry breathed out and moved to his lip. “I should have been more clear with him. Should have said no and not stutter around.”

“He was harassing you and everyone could see that you were uncomfortable in the situation. Or did you want to leave with him?”

“No, _god no_! But now you’re hurt and that’s not what I wanted.” Harry shook his head and took out some disinfectant spray. 

“This could burn now.” Louis nodded and let Harry spray it on him. 

“It’s still not your fault. I was the one who started the fight.”

“Thank you for sticking up for me Lou.”

“Always, love.” Harry blushed and turned away again to get small band aids that he applied on his eyebrow. “Can’t do much on the lip.” He explained and took the cloth again. 

“May I?” He pointed to Louis hand and the older man nodded and held it up for Harry to take. Harry knelt down in front of Louis and gently held it with his own. Louis’ hand was already bruising and turning into different shades of blue and purple. He cleaned it and then took a bandage which he applied carefully. 

“I’ll go grab some ice for your cheek and hand do you have painkillers?” He looked up at Louis and the blue eyed man nodded. 

“In one of the cupboards in the kitchen. I think the one next to the fridge.”

“Okay I’ll be right back.” He searched through the cupboards until he found the painkillers, then filled a glass with water before he opened the freezer. 

“Here, hold it to your cheek and take those.” He gave Louis the glass with the pills and then the ice which the older man held against his cheek. 

“Where did you learn all this?” Louis looked up to Harry from where he was sitting on the toilet, the green eyed boy was leaning against the wall across from him. 

“Just picked it up along the way.” He shrugged and Louis furrowed his eyebrows, which was a mistake because it hurt like a bitch. 

“It made me mad how he talked about you.” Louis admitted after a few moments and Harry looked into his eyes. “Like you were an object, a quick fuck and nothing more.” Louis stood up and stopped in front of Harry. 

“But he’s wrong. So fucking wrong and that made me furious. You know that yeah?”

“Lou, I-“ Harry broke the eye contact with Louis and looked down, his eyes trained to the floor. 

“You’re more than that Harry don’t let everyone ever tell you you’re not.” He put his index finger under Harry’s chin, his thumb resting on it so he could tilt Harry’s head until he was looking at him. He had tears in his eyes. 

“You deserve nothing but the best baby.” Louis stroke some of Harry’s hair behind his ear. Shivers went down Harry’s spine at the pet name and he flushed. 

“I learned how to clean wounds and stuff because of my ex boyfriend, Nick. He often got into fights with strangers and I would fix him up when he came to me.” Louis eyes widen at his words and he took a step back. 

“Did he...ever...” Louis sighed. “Did he _hit_ you?” The words felt disgusting in Louis mouth and Harry widened his eyes a little in surprise.

“What? No. Nick was good he never did anything that hurt me.” Harry smiled and shook his head. 

“Liam said you run away from him.” Harry’s shoulder sagged down and he nodded. “I guess you can call it that, yeah. It was complicated but it’s in the past.” Louis nodded, understanding that Harry didn’t want to talk about it. 

He started to search for a toothbrush for Harry and then excused himself to search for clothes the younger boy could wear. Harry quickly brushed his teeth and accepted the clothes. 

“Here’s a guest bedroom, mines at the end of the hallway,” he pointed to a door that was at the end and Harry nodded. “Thank you Louis. For everything tonight.” 

“You’re welcome love. Sleep well.”

“Good Night.” He whispered back and stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. He leaned against it for a few moments, just smiling with his eyes closed before he stripped out of his clothes and into the sweats Louis gave him. The T-shirt smelled strongly of Louis and Harry catches himself how he pressed his nose against the soft material. He looked around, as if anyone was here and could’ve seen it which was dumb because he was alone on the room that was only lit by the moon. He pulled the T-shirt over his head and later down in the soft bed, letting the smell of Louis lull him into a deep sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like it, don’t forget to leave a comment and I promise there’ll be a kiss soon or something but  
> LOUIS CALLED HARRY BABY I LIVE FOR THIS SHIT THANK YOU VERY MUCH 
> 
> Also please drink water and eat if you haven’t today. Take care of yourself. I love you.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay first of all I love you so much thank you like this story already has 1700 hits wtf and I love love love reading your comments y’all are way to fucking cute i can’t handle it.   
> So I hope you like the chapter it’s a filler one but they have to exist.

Harry was standing in front of Louis’ stove, concentrating on the scrambled eggs when the blue eyed man walked into the kitchen. 

“Morning.” He said with a husky and sleepy voice. Harry looked up with a big smile, dimples and all but frowned when he saw how big the bruise on his cheekbone was. 

“Good Morning Lou. Does your face hurt a lot?” Louis let his hand wander to his faceand he hissed when he touched his cheekbone. 

“It’s alright I suppose. Does it look bad?” He raised his brows in worry and looked to Harry. 

“I mean it’s pretty dark and your lip and eyebrow are still cut. You look like you’re a mafia boss or something.” 

“Mhh, I think I can live with that. My hand hurts like a bitch though.” Louis looked down on his swollen hand and turned it around a bit. 

“I’ll get you some ice and more painkillers. If it doesn’t get better it’s best to drive into the hospital.” The younger man started to look for plates and smiled when he found them. He quickly but the scrambled eggs on them and put two pieces of toast on each as well. “Here, eat something and I get the pills and some water. Do you want some tea?”

“Uh...yeah, tea’s fine. Thank you.” Harry hummed and smiled while Louis took their plates to the table. 

“Y’know, you don’t have to like cook breakfast and stuff every time you’re here.” He said when Harry came back with tea and water and some pills. “Oh, it’s fine really. I don’t mind.” He stated with a shrug of his shoulders and sat down across from Louis, where he started on his breakfast. 

“Harry, can I ask you something?” Louis asked after a while of them just sitting in a peaceful silence. “Uhm... sure. Though I might not answer.“ 

“It’s nothing too bad...I think. I was just curious about you sister. Have you talked to her yet or do you know how you’re going to approach her?” The older man, who was already finished with his food leaned back in his seat and watched Harry. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he settled for an answer. 

“I saw her last week. I was visiting my mom and when the elevator door opened she was standing there.... I was kind of surprised and couldn’t talk... I wanted to ask her if we could talk, meet up sometime but she was already gone before I could finish my question... it felt strange. Mom told me she’s engaged Lou. She’s engaged and she didn’t even told me.” His last sentence was just a mutter. He sounded frustrated and mad and he was. Mostly at himself though. 

“I’m sorry Haz.” Louis voice was quiet and empathetic and Harry looked up to him again. His eyes were sorry. Sorry for Harry and that was something the green eyed boy detested more than anything. When people saw him as pathetic and felt sorry for him. He  _ hated _ it. 

“I don’t need your pity.” He huffed angrily and stood up from his seat. The chair screeched on the floor and Louis scrunched his face at the creaking sound it made. He took his half finished plate and brought it in the kitchen where he puts it in the sink. 

“I’m not pitying you Harry.” Louis followed him and watched him from where he was leaning against the door frame. 

“Sure feels like it. Everyone always does it and I’m sick of it.” Harry looked up at Louis and blew air through his nose his hands were grabbing the countertop so hard that his knuckles turned white. 

“No one pities you Harry.” His voice was soft and calm which kind of confused Harry. He was furious inside and felt like screaming and Louis’ calmness irritated him in a weird way. Made him even angrier. 

“You do all the time. Every time we talk about me or my mom you always have this look and Liam does too, even Niall sometimes. I.. I can’t... I don’t need it Okay? I’m fine! Fucking great even.” 

“Okay.” Harry furrowed his brows, his forehead creasing. “What?” He asked dumbly and Louis shrugged his shoulders. 

“I said okay. You’re saying you’re fine so I believe you.”Harry’s mouth opened and closed for a few times before he nodded. “Thank you.” His voice was still a bit confused, hell he was confused by Louis reaction. 

“You’re welcome.” The older man said without any emotions whatsoever. 

“I should go home. Shower and put on fresh clothes.” He looked down at the Pyjamas he was still wearing. They fitted him just like that and were probably sitting loosely when Louis was wearing them. 

“Whatever you want.” Louis said and Harry nodded once again.Louis still sounded calm and nice and he just stepped to the side when Harry started to make his way upstairs. He quickly pulled on his jeans and shirt from the day before and grabbed his phone, that was sitting on the nightstand. He folded the used laundry neatly and put it on top of the bed that he also did. 

“I’ll drive you.” Louis was already dressed when Harry came back downstairs, in a jeans and a Adidas jumper. 

“Oh, you don’t have to. It’s fine.” He put on his boots and grabbed his jacket. 

“I’ll insist c’mon. Besides it would take too long to take the tube and bus.” Harry sighed but nodded. “Only if it isn’t a problem though.”

“It’s not H, I promise. I wouldn’t have suggested it if it were.” 

The drive was weird. At least Harry felt like it was. Louis in the other hand acted completely normal, maybe a slight bit to calm for Harry’s likings but still. Besides Louis was usually the louder one of them, he today apparently wasn’t. He still talked a lot on the drive but it was different and Harry was confused and felt uneasy. Louis just acted weird since their... whatever it was that happened at breakfast. You couldn’t call it a fight, because Louis didn’t say anything really. It was just Harry wanting to scream and Louis being the definition of calmness... or whatsoever. Anyway Harry didn’t like it. 

“Thank you Louis and maybe get your hand checked out yeah?” 

“It’s fine, really and you’re welcome.” He waited until Harry was in the building and then left. 

It was later that day, when Harry was freshly showered and in comfy clothes that he received a call from the hospital. 

“Mr Styles, your mom Mrs Cox had multiple seizures and she needs to have surgery. We’re bringing her into an operation room right now.” Harry’s hands started to tremble at that and he needed a few moments before he could answer. 

“Okay...I’ll be there. Thank you.” His voice hitched at the end and when the nurse that called him hung up he let his hand slowly sink down. Harry’s eyes were unfocused and stared at nothing, his mind was blank. 

Gemma, he needed to call Gemma. And Niall and Liam he needed his friends now. 

Liam and Niall picked Harry up from his flat and drove way over the speed limit. Normally Harry would scold Niall for his bad driving but he couldn’t care less right now. He was glad that he didn’t have to focus on things like driving right now because he’s sure it would end in a car crash. He’s also glad that Niall and Liam are here right now and tried their best to comfort him though he wasn’t really listening. He could here his blood in his ears like white noise and it made blend all the other sounds that were surrounded him out. 

Next thing he knows he’s standing with Liam in front of the reception while Niall parks the car. Liam explained everything to the nurse that was standing in front of them- bless him honestly because Harry was out of it right now- and they were shown into a waiting room. 

“When’s Gemma gonna be here H?” Liam asked, his voice was soft and his brown eyes calming. He was scrunching down to be on Harry’s eye level, due to him sitting in one of the plastic chairs in the waiting room. He shrugged his shoulders. 

“I don’t know.” He croaked out and looked to the floor. “Okay, stay here, I’m gonna find you some water or something yeah? Niall’s gonna be here soon.” Liam squeezed his knees and stood straight again, scrambling off to find something to drink and maybe some snacks. 

“Harry, how is she? Do you know anything?” Gemma suddenly appeared in front of him and he blinked up at his sister whose face was painted in worry. 

“No, no I just came here we don’t know anything. Not more then I already told you.” He said feebly and Gemma sighed. It was then that Harry noticed that she didn’t came alone. Her boyfriend (fiancé) was standing there and hugged his sister close. She buried her head in his chest. Harry felt weird watching them sharing an intimate moment so he was happy when Niall suddenly took the seat next to his. 

“Hi Gems, Michal,” he nodded to them as a greeting and they smiled at him. 

“You’re alright?” Niall whispered to Harry and he shook his head. “I don’t know.” 

“Oh, you brought your boyfriend. Hi Gemma,” Liams voice appeared and he gave Harry a bottle of water which the younger boy took thankfully. “Fiancé,” Harry whispered but they heard. 

“What?” Liam asked and turned to Harry. “She brought her fiancé. They’re engaged.” He sounded bitter and saw how Gemma stiffened at that. 

“I didn’t know. Congrats to you then.” Liam smiled and Gemma nodded. 

“Mom told you then?” It was directed towards Harry. “Yeah, last week after you was visiting her. She was really happy for you.” 

“Why didn’t you say anything?” 

“I could ask you the same Gemma. Why didn’t you tell me?” 

“You didn’t tell him? He’s your brother darling,” Michal chimed in, his voice confused. 

“I wanted to Harry but I didn’t know how. We barely talk I thought you wouldn’t care anyway.” 

“Of course I care Gemma. I never stopped caring it’s just... I need to go. I need some fresh air.” He stood up from the plastic chair and stormed out of the waiting room. Everything was spinning and turning and his life was a mess. 

“Harry, wait!” Liams called after him but he ignored it and just walked until he was standing in front of the basketball court on the roof of the hospital. No one was on it, of course not it was almost December and it was raining the whole day. 

He sat down on one of the benches that were lucky protected from the water and pulled his knees to his chest. The cold air filled his lungs and helped him calm down. 

“Hey Harry.” Gemma sat down next to him. He didn’t turn to her, just kept on looking straight out. 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you about the engagement and I’m sorry that we lost each other. I should’ve taken more care of you. You’re my younger brother and I abandoned you when you needed it me. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry Hazza.” She was crying. Her words were interrupted by sniffles and she wiped her tears away with her hands. 

“I’m sorry Haz. So...so sorry and I’m here now okay?” It was quiet for a while after that. They both didn’t talk. It was Harry’s turn now anyway. 

“I’m sorry too. Sorry that I pushed you away. I’m sorry it’s just... with mom it sometimes gets too much. I’m sorry Gemma. Mom always tells me that she wants us to be there for each other again. She’s told me forever now and I always said yes but I’ve never done anything because I was so scared. When mom told me you were engaged I thought I’ve completely lost you.” Tears were now falling down his face as well and he turned to his sister for the first time. 

“Never Harry. We were both stubborn but we can do better. But you never lose me. I’ll always be your sister and no matter what I always love you and always have Okay?”

Harry nodded and when Gemma put her arms around him he hugged her back. It was comforting and felt like home. It was a feeling he hadn’t felt since forever and more tears were leaking out of his eyes while he was in the arms of his sister. He missed this. 

“Let’s get back to the others and ask about mom.” Gemma pressed a kiss to his curls and they made their way back. 

The nurse wasn’t helpful at all. She explained that she couldn’t say anything about their mom’s condition right now and that they just have to wait. When Gemma asked how long she thinks they need to wait they were met with the same answer as before. “I can’t say anything about that.”

So they sat down again and waited. And waited and waited. They drank the water and ate the snacks Liam had brought earlier and at one point Niall fell asleep against Harry’s shoulder. 

It was like torture and shouldn’t that be illegal? They had to wait without knowing anything and Harry didn’t dare to Google anything related to his mom’s surgery. He’d learn from previous attempts that they just lead into him having an anxiety attack because honestly who knew you could die from literally anything. Even from hiccups. 

Because he didn’t want to disturb Niall he didn’t move much which was quiet hard. He felt fidgety, wanted to move around, shake his leg up and down. He just wanted to do something, anything that would keep his mind at bay. 

It was one of these moments where you just felt so helpless. He couldn’t do anything to help his mom. He couldn’t do anything to help the doctors. It was out of his powers and that made his stomach twirl. That feeling of helplessness and having to give up control. Not that he had any control over his mom’s condition, no. That never was the case but right now it felt like everything was slipping away. 

They waited and waited and waited. Harry didn’t check the clock but hours passed, people left the waiting room and new people would come in. Doctors and nurses where rushing around and Harry was jealous that they had something to do. That they weren’t here because one of their beloved ones was sick. They weren’t here and had to worry without knowing anything. So yeah, he was jealous. 

“You don’t have to wait here the whole time. You can go home.” He looked at Liam who was currently doing the one thing Harry didn’t dare to do. Ask google. 

“We are not going anywhere until we know that everything’s alright. We wouldn’t leave you alone H.” The older boy looked at him and put his phone back into his pocket. 

“How was it with Louis yesterday huh? He did make quiet the scene.” Liam chuckled and Harry laughed a little and nodded, happy to have a distraction. 

“Yeah, he did. I went to his place because I felt bad and I cleaned his wounds. He has a cut in his eyebrow and lip and his cheekbone is pretty swollen, his hand as well it he’s fine.”

“Why did you felt bad? He was the one who got jealous.”

“He wasn’t jealous, just being nice. That guy didn’t take no as an answer and Louis chimes in.” Harry stated and Liam cocked and eyebrow. “Sure, just tell yourself that. And how did you find your way back home?” 

“Uhh I kinda slept there? Like in one of his guest rooms, yeah. And after we ate breakfast he drove me back home. The rest is history.” Liam hummed and nodded. 

“What did you think about that Zayn guy?” He asked after a while and Liam shrugged his shoulders. “Quiet but made some good fucking jokes. Nice lad but wouldn’t thought he and Louis were so close.” 

“Yeah,” he simply answered and leaned his head against Nialls. His sister was sitting a cross from them, with her fiancé and they were dosing as well. 

“I’m glad you and her figured it out.” 

“I’m too, I thought it was too late by now and I’m thankful that it’s not.”

Niall woke up with a grumbling stomach and walked off to find something to eat when a doctor approached them, still in surgical clothes. 

“Your mother is fine for now, though there were no complications we can’t fully say if she’ll recover 100% until she wakes up. They’re always risk especially with surgeries that are done at the brain. She’s in the intensive care unit right now until she’ll wake up and after that we’ll bring her back to her room. You may see her now but only one at a time and only close family.” A big weight was taken from their shoulders by the words of the doctor and they said their thank yous before she left. 

“You can see her first, I need a few moments anyway.” Harry looked at Gemma and she smiled. His sister gave him a kiss on the cheek which still felt a bit foreign because they haven’t shared things like that in years but he didn’t mind.

“Oh man am I relieved.” Liam muttered and slumped down in his chair again. “Me too.” Harry smiled at him, which was returned. 

Gemma wasn’t long away, they were just allowed to go in the room for a few minutes. 

“Don’t be scared, yeah? It’s still mom.” She whispered so that only he was able to hear her and he nodded. 

When Harry stepped into the room, he understood what Gemma meant. It was overwhelming and scary at first sight. There were thousand of cables and tubes and beeping noises and midst all of it was his mom,with a white bandage around her head. It took a few moments until he could go up to her, repeating Gemmas words in his head.  _ It’s still mom.  _

It didn’t feel like this was his mom. The strong woman she once was but maybe she was even stronger now. Harry wasn’t sure. He took the cold hand of his mother gently in his and just ignored the tears that were falling down his cheeks. 

“Hey mom,” he looked up to her, her eyes were closed and her mouth open because of the tube that was still inside of it. “Me and Gems finally talked and we’re good now... but I’m so sorry that it took this... to get us back together mom. I’m so sorry... I love you.” He was sniffling and sobbing but it didn’t matter because he had his mom and his sister and his friends. He had his family. He pressed a kiss to his moms hand and forehead and walked back to his family. 

“We can visit mom together on Monday. That’ll make her happy and we can get something to eat after yeah?” Gemma suggested and Harry nodded. “Yeah, that sounds nice.” She hugged him and they went off into different directions. 

“I’m proud of you Harry.” He turned to Liam with a questioning look and waited for him to proceed but he just winked and gave him a smile before he started walking again. 

“What did he mean?” 

“I don’t know, c’mon it’s freezing.” Niall nudged his shoulder and he shook his head shortly before following his friends. His weird friends. 

*

Harry closed his journal as soon as he heard the knock on his office door and a second later Louis was standing in front of him. 

“Don’t you have work to do Harold?” He asked teasingly and Harry rolled his eyes. “Was just finishing and besides, no I actually don’t. There’s nothing to do I’m already done with everything even did stuff that isn’t due till the end of December.”

“Really?” Louis asked and Harry nodded. “Yeah, really.” 

“When did you do all this?” His boss sat down in one of the armchairs standing in front of Harry’s desk. “I guess over time? I don’t know. I always stay here as long as you are since this is my job and you often don’t give me anything to do so I work ahead.”

“Weird. Should I pay you more or anything?” Harry chuckled but shook his head. “It’s not weird and no. You already pay me more than I work.” 

“Y’know, everyone would say yes but you Harold.” He shrugged his shoulders again with a slight blush on his cheeks. “Anyway, what are we eating for lunch?” 

“That’s why you’re here?” Harry asked amused and Louis nodded. “Well duh ask Liam if he wants to come too. Or just send him up I’m to lazy to go out in the cold.” Louis stood up from the armchair and started to walk out again. 

“Yeah, sure but what do you want to eat?” He called after the blue eyed man. “You can pick but nothing to healthy!” He rolled his eyes but said nothing, he just wrote a quick message to Liam then ordered them food. For Louis and Liam a pizza and for himself a salad more so on principle than anything else because since his trip to New York he couldn’t stop with the greasy food and found himself eating more and more of it. So maybe this salad wasn’t so bad after all. 

He walked into Louis’ office and planted himself on the couch. The windows were slightly fogged due to the cold air outside and the warm one inside. “Do you think it’s gonna snow soon?” Harry asked and turned to Louis who was leaning against his desk. 

“Probably. London’s traffic is horrible when it’s snowing though.” He walked over to Harry and sat down next to him, staring out as well. 

“I like snow. Always makes me feel like a kid.” 

“Well you’re still are a child young Harold, what should I say.” Louis shrugged and Harry rolled his eyes. “You’re just jealous that you’re past your best years old man. How is it not being able to walk up stairs anymore?” 

“Oi cheeky...okay, we can go there. How is it still having to show your ID every time you want to go to a bar.” 

“I don’t know but maybe you can tell me how it felt like when the dinosaurs died.” 

“If you want I can help you learn the alphabet, it’s easy it only has 26 letters.” 

“Well if you want I can help you and explain to you how the internet works. I bet it’s hard to keep up with everything but don’t worry I got you.” Harry grinned up at him and Louis just wanted to say something back when someone knocked on the door. Before Louis could say anything Liam was walking in with their food. 

“I won!” Harry breathed out with a big smile and the older man just rolled his eyes. “We’ll see,” he muttered back and then turned to Liam. “Hi guys.” The brown eyed smiled at them and handed them their food. “Thanks Li.” Harry smiled and was quick to start his salad. 

“I can’t believe you eat this shit for fun.” Louis looked at his salad with a scrunched face and this time Harry was the one to roll his eyes. 

“I’m not having this conversation with you or anyone ever again.” 

“Yeah, because you know that we’re right!” Liam fist bumped Louis which Harry just stared at them confused. “I hate you both and it’s not because you’re right, ‘s just because we’ve had this discussion multiple times and I’m annoyed by it.” 

“Sure Harold, whatever you say.” Louis took a piece of his pizza and made a scene biting into it. Harry just rolled his eyes again and ate his salad. 

*

To say that their mom was happy to see him and Gemma visiting her together was an understatement. She was crying and didn’t stop but what was most importantly was that she was fine. The surgery did took a lot of strength of her and she was still exhausted but she’s fine. They talked and laughed and it was the first time in years that they were this happy when they sat together. Harry and Gemma didn’t stay long because soon their mom got tired and they let her sleep. 

It didn’t took long for them to find a restaurant that they would want to eat in and they quickly fell into a light chatter. Just talking about everything really and Harry listend attentively when Gemma started to talk about the wedding. He was excited for it, andwas happy to give his sister some suggestions. He also told her about his new job, about how much he loves it and how nice Louis is. They talked a lot about Louis actually but Harry didn’t mind and Gemma was very interested in him. 

Harry had felt anxious the whole time about this meet up but things went perfect and there wasn’t one moment where Harry felt uncomfortable. Sure, it was his sister but they were more like strangers than siblings the last two to three years. So things were going good right now. 

*

_ Please tell me you have time  _

Harry stared at the message he’s just gotten. He was in sweats and a pullover and he was ready to watch some tv, maybe have a wank and then go to sleep but it was Louis who wrote that message and maybe it was important. 

_ I have time  _

He quickly typed back and not even seconds later he got an answer. 

_ Okay Perfect can you come to the office? I’ll explain then  _

_ omw _

He pulled on a beanie and put on some sneakers before he grabbed his car keys and mad his way to the car.

When he arrived he took the parking spot that was the nearest to the elevators, seeing Louis’ car was the only one left (it was 9:30 pm after all). The garage felt creepy this late at night and Harry walked with fast steps to the elevator that would lead him to his office. 

He didn’t knock on Louis door, just walked in and was met with chaos. The floor was scattered in papers and files and in midst all of it was Louis sitting. 

“What are you doing?” Louis looked up from his spot on the floor. His blue eyes looked tired and he sighed. 

“You know the meeting I have tomorrow?” Harry nodded and started to walk up to Louis, careful to not step on anything. “I kinda forgot to prepare it and have to do it now.” 

“I reminded you like four times, why didn’t you do it earlier.” The younger man sat down next to his boss. “I forgot. I didn’t mean to just happened. I need your help it’s an important meeting and I need to be prepared.” 

“Yeah, sure. Just tell me what you have already.” Louis grabbed a piece of paper and handed it Harry. 

“Seriously Lou?” On the paper where multiple smiley faces with x as their eyes and a penis with an arrow pointing to it and the words  _ that’s a penis  _ written next to it . 

“I was very bored,” Harry looked to Louis again, a small smile on his lips. “Let’s get started then. I’m gonna make some tea and you can start with sorting the papers.” Louis nodded and stood up from his spot before he held his hand for Harry to help him up. 

“Harry... Haz wake up. C’mon love.” Harry slowly opened his eyes and saw a tired looking Louis in front of him. “What happened?” His voice was tired and he felt exhausted. 

“The meeting is in half an hour. I made you tea.” Harry groaned and sat up, his palms rubbing his eyes in an attempt to wake him up. 

“Thank you,” he took the mug that Louis handed him and looked around. This place was even more a mess then before he came but he can’t remember falling asleep. 

“What time is it?” Louis was drinking tea on his own, his hair was disheveled and his suit wrinkled. “About 7 o’clock.” 

“I didn’t mean to fall asleep, sorry.”

“It’s fine we we’re almost done anyway. You can go home now if you want.” Harry furrowed his brows, “what aboutthe meeting?” 

“Oh, it’s fine you don’t have to be there it’s gonna be long and you look tired. Go home, get some sleep.” Harry shook his head. 

“No, you probably didn’t sleep at all so it’s only fair if I stay. As long as you don’t mind my clothes?” He was after all just wearing grey sweats with a black hoodie and his beanie, that was lying somewhere in this room. 

“No I don’t care about you’re clothes but are you sure?” 

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Louis nodded and took his stuff. 

“Well then c’mon.” Harry quickly grabbed himself a banana and some crackers which he ate in the elevator and followed Louis to the conference room. 

Louis held the meeting like it took him weeks to prepare everything rather than just one night and Harry was kind of proud of their work. He didn’t say a lot, just gave Louis the things he needed or gave out files for the others he was still tired and he was giving some looks for the way he was dressed but honestly he couldn’t care less. 

“Go home now, get some rest and we’ll see each other tomorrow. Oh and on Friday is a business dinner that I want you to attend with me. Mr Candise and his wife. I’m gonna pick you up at 8 pm. We’re something nice it’s a good restaurant.” Louis reminded him and Harry nodded. He could do that. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t hate me because they haven’t kissed yet it just didn’t fit the vibe of the chapter. 
> 
> Explanation: I don’t have any plans for this story I just write without planning anything if that makes sense like I didn’t know that Harry and Gemma would come to terms with each other in this chapter until I wrote the scene.   
> I’m weird.   
> Also I made one of these frog cakes (please tell me you know what I mean) and I’m in love with it thank you.   
> I love you don’t forget that and feel free to comment anything 
> 
> Also Harry and Louis Are fine I’ll come back to their banter later on don’t worry bestieeees


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi besties!!!  
> Okay so first of all this chapter took me forever and I’m not happy with it but y’all have to live with it.  
> I’m tired, very tired but I wanted to finish this one so that I could upload it. Yes I know I’m the best. Just kidding I love you!!!! xxxxxx  
> I love all your comments (I’m gonna go reply to those now just haven’t had the time today y’know school and personal life and writers blockade not gonna lie).  
> I wanted to say something but I forgot because I’m so tired. 
> 
> *******  
> tw: sexual abuse (not really but yeah), alcohol

Friday came around in a blast and before he knows it, Louis is standing in front of his door to pick him up. Harry opened the door with his hair still wet from the shower he just took and his black button down still unbuttoned. He was watching his favourite tv show and completely lost track of time so when he looked at his phone and saw that he only had 20 minutes left until Louis would be here he started to stress. 

“Well hello there.” Louis looked Harry up and down and smirked which made the younger boy blush profusely. 

“Give me like 5 minutes and I’ll be ready.” Harry ushered outand Louis stepped into his flat. “Just make yourself comfortable!” He called after Louis when he was already in his bedroom to button his shirt, deciding to leave the first few ones open. He tucked it in his trousers and walked into his en-suite bathroom to quickly blow dry his hair. When he was done, he pulled a black blazer on and then put on his shoes before he walked to Louis who was sitting in the living room. 

“Okay, I’m done we can go. Sorry that it took so long!” Louis looked up from his phone and swallowed before he stood up. “It’s fine, let’s go.” He was wearing a darf grey suit with a white button down. The grey complimented his eyes wonderfully. When he looked closely, he still could see a faint green shimmer on Louis’ cheekbone but the rest was pretty much healed. The older man put his hand on the small of Harry’s back and lead them to the car, where a driver was waiting for them. 

Harry recognised him from times before and gave him a smile and let out a “thank you,” when he opened the door for them. 

“Mr Cerise was one of the first one to take me serious when I started and I owe him a lot,” Louis started to explain when they drove to the wet streets. It was raining earlier and Harry honestly couldn’t wait for the snow any longer. “Every now and then we meet over dinner and talk about everything business wise and we also have a deal that we made quite early in my career. He’s in his forties, his wife is 32 I think but she’s lovely.” 

Louis and Harry stepped out of the car and Louis’ hand once again found it’s way to Harry’s back, leading them into the restaurant where they were lead to a table. “You look beautiful by the way,” Louis whispered in his ear and Harry’s cheeks immediately turned red. “What?” His breath hitched as he looked back to Louis who was walking behind him but the older man didn’t say anything, just shot him a smile. 

Mr and Mrs Cerise were already sitting on it and stood up when they neared them. “Louis, nice to see you again!” They shook their hands and Mr Cerise gave Louis a few pats on his upper arm. Louis chuckled and nodded before greeting Mrs Cerise with light kisses on her left and right cheek. 

“I see you brought company.” Mrs Cerise recognised the elephant in the room which would be Harry. “Let me introduce you to my personal assistant, Harry Styles.” 

“Nice to meet you.” Harry gave them a polite smile and shook their hands as well before they sat down. 

“Do you mind asking me how old you are?” Mr Cerise asked Harry. He was sitting diagonally from him. “Uhm no sir I don’t, I’m 21.” 

“Oh, that’s quite young, right darling?” Mrs Cerise nodded as an answer and smiled. “And how long have you been working for Louis?” 

“Since August, so four months now.” The man hummed. A waiter came up to them and handed them the menus. 

“I’m thinking about some wine, Louis?” 

“Yeah wine sounds great.” His boss agreed. So that was settled then. 

“What are you eating? There’s so much,” Harry asked Louis quietly and the older man chuckled. “I’ll get some steak but the fish here is great. Choose whatever you want.” 

When the waiter came back Mr Cerise ordered a bottle of wine and when it was Harry’s turn he decided to go with some salmon. 

“I’ve heard from your visit to New York, it’s a shame the deal didn’t work out.” 

“Well they weren’t really convincing and probably just wanted some money. Wasn’t worth it.” 

“I understand that good. I get to listen to so many people that are just after my money and the risks just not worth it sometimes.” Louis nodded in agreement. 

“Had still a good time in New York though. It’s more fun when you don’t have to travel alone.”

“Oh, was Eleanor with you?” Mrs Cerise asked than and Louis eyes shot to her. 

“God no, she really is history. I took Harry with me he was very helpful he knows what he’s doing.” Harry blushed at the praise and gave Louis a small thankful smile. 

“That’s surprising, considering how young he is.” Louis shrugged with his shoulders and Harry decided to not say anything about Mr Cerise’s comment. 

Louis and Mr Cerise kept on talking about their businesses while Harry and Mrs Cerise just quietly listened until their food was being brought to them. 

“You’re certainly handsome and charming, I’ll bet you have a beautiful girlfriend as well?” Mr Cerise turned his attention to Harry again. 

“I don’t have a girlfriend sir.”

“Oh really well I’m sure there are many girls that would like to be by your side then.” 

“No sir, actually not.” He said politely and focused on his salmon again. It was tasty and melted like butter in his mouth. 

“Oh, if you want I know some very good looking girls.” 

“Thank you, but that’s not necessary.” 

“How comes?” Harry looked up again and it took everything in him not to roll his eyes. 

“He’s not interested, I think he made that clear.” Louis stepped in before Harry could say anything and his shoulders relaxed in relief. People could be so annoying and persistent sometimes. 

They ate their food and then ordered dessert. 

“I’m gonna go to the restrooms real quick.” He excused himself and stood up from his seat to find the toilets. 

When he was done he walked to the sinks to wash his hands, when the door opened and Mr Cerise stepped in again. Harry smiled at him through the mirror, expecting him to walk to the toilets but the man didn’t move from behind Harry. The next thing Harry heard was the locking sound of an door and he turned around. 

“Uhm sir?” He questioned and looked up to Mr Cerise. Not only was the man older than Harry but he was also from the looks of it way stronger. 

“Y’know Harry, it’s kind of odd that you dismissed all ob my offers earlier. A young boy like you, not wanting a nice little girl to fuck. It’s weird innit?” Harry furrowed his brows at the words the man in front of him used. “And you know what I also think is weird? That someone as young as you are, gets a job that’s paid so high.” The man stepped closer to Harry, way to close and Harry couldn’t step away because the sink was right behind him. “I bet you’re fucked your way up didn’t ya? A cute little twink. Bet you’ll let anyone fuck ya don’t ya?” Harry shook his head, his hands where starting to sweat and tremble. He had no idea where this would lead but he wasn’t very eager to find out either. 

“Fags like you... it’s a disease if you ask me. Fucking disgusting.” 

“I should go now.” Harry let out with a shaky voice. A big hand shoved him back so that he was hitting the sink with the back of his legs. 

“I think not.” His hand was still on Harry’s chest and every time Harry tried to get away he was pressed back again. 

“What do you want?” Harry asked, voice layered with fear. The answer made him shudder. “You.” 

It was a simple answer yet Harry could read a lot into it. He winced when he felt a hand at the button on his trousers and tried to stop it with his own hands. He was too weak and the hand on his chest pressed against him harder and harder. His flinching and squirming earned him some time because suddenly there was a loud knock on the door and Mr Cerise stepped back from Harry with his eyes wide open. Harry didn’t move from his place. 

The man opened the door and was met by a waiter and a guest who complained. 

“I’m sorry, we just had to check something. We apologise for the circumstances.” He shot them a sympathetic smile and the waiter just nodded and left again. 

“If you tell Louis or my wife or anyone about this I will literally ruin your life understood?” Mr Cerise grabbed Harry’s arm harshly and tugged him forward his warm breath was hitting Harry’s ear. It was disgusting. 

“Did you hear me?” He squeezed Harry which made Harry whine and got him out of his trance like state. “Yes,” he breathed out and the grip on his arm disappeared. “Good Boy.” 

Harry’s insides churned around and he felt sick. 

“Oi what has taken you so long?” Louis smiled at them when they arrived at their table. Harry swallowed and sat down, he didn’t know what to say. “There was a long line in front of the toilets. I don’t know what took so long.” Mr Cerise answered and shrugged his shoulders. 

“We already started on dessert, hope that’s not a problem?” Harry looked at Louis’ plate where his chocolate cake was already half eaten. 

“Not at all.” 

Harry didn’t want to eat, couldn’t eat after what just happened. He felt sick and he would throw up if he had to eat one piece of this cake. He pushed the plate away from him and looked down at the table. 

“Don’t you want yours?” Louis asked and Harry shook his head. 

“You should really eat it Harry, it’s very good.” Mr Cerise smiled at him. It was a warm smile and would Harry not have experienced what he just did he maybe would’ve liked the man. Louis definitely adored him, he could tell so much. 

“Mhh, I suppose we can let them wrap it up for take away.” Louis suggest and finished his. Harry didn’t say anything for the rest of the evening and he felt Louis eyes on him asking him if he was okay. He didn’t look up. His mind was concentrated on staying calm, to not freak out or panic and to keep his tears in. 

“We’ll see each other soon,” were the last words Mr Cerise said, his eyes on Harry. He felt like it had a deeper meaning, it sure sounded like a thread directed towards him. Then they walked into different directions. 

“C’mon, let’s walk a bit yeah?” Louis looked at Harry. The younger boy honestly just wanted to go home and hide under his blanket, maybe cry a bit or whatever. It was cold outside and he wasn’t really wearing the warmest clothes but Louis looked at him in a way where he couldn’t say no so he just nodded. 

They walked in silence. Harry was still trying to process the things that happened today. “What are you thinking about?” They stepped into one of those many small hidden parks that were scattered all around London. It was lit with lanterns and they followed the path. Harry could spill everything right now. He wanted to, wanted Louis to help him but he knew better. He knew that Mr Cerise was a very powerful man and that he meant it when he said he would ruin Harry’s life. And Harry’s life was already ruined enough he couldn’t afford it being destroyed more. 

“Nothing really.” He settled for answer and put his hands in the pockets of his jacket. 

“You were quiet when you came back from the bathroom.” Louis stated and Harry shrugged. “I’m always quiet, you know that.” 

“Yeah, I do but that was unusual for you. Tell me Harry, please.” Harry sighed. “I would Lou but there’s nothing to tell. ‘m just tired, ‘s all.” 

“Cerise is nice isn’t he?” Louis changed the topic and Harry forced himself to nod. 

“Yeah, you like him a lot don’t you?”

“Well he’s one of the people I like more in the industry, yeah but he’s not perfect. D’you want one?” Louis held up his open cigarette pack. 

“You know that I don’t smoke.”

“Yeah, I do but you look like you could use one.” 

“I don’t. I’m fine Lou.” 

“Okay.” The older man shrugged and put it away. 

“You know, you sometimes act weird.” Harry began after a while and Louis looked at him questioningly. “What do you mean?”

“On Saturday, when I got mad at you for pitying me? You reacted weird and I don’t know... maybe it’s just me.” He sighed. 

“Come. Let’s sit.” Harry followed Louis to one of the benches and pulled one of his legs to his chest. “You told me you don’t want my pity. Which okay, I didn’t pity you in the first place but if you felt like it then I respect that. So I’ll try not to pity you.”

“You say you’re fine, so I have to believe you or else you’d consider it as pity. You need to learn the difference between caring for you, helping you and actually pitying you but that’s something you have to understand for yourself and I can’t help you with that. Not really at least. I can try and show you but you need to understand it on your own.” Harry looked up at Louis because he didn’t understand. He didn’t understood anything at the moment. 

“You’ll get it H, I promise you.” Louis looked at him with a soft smile and Harry sighed.

He knew the difference between pity, help and care. Why wouldn’t he? And he knew what it felt like being pitied. He felt it when he told Liam and Niall that his mom was sick and he felt it when the doctors talked to him. It’s the way they look at you, how they treat you and it’s so obvious to you but they don’t seem to get it. Being pitied is something that Harry felt so often in the past three years and he hated it. 

And he knew that there was a difference between being pitied and being cared for. He experienced those things so he knew it right? 

“Haz, don’t think about it too much. Now do you want to talk about something or not?” Louis is giving him a chance, offers his hand for him and Harry just had to take it. 

“No, I don’t.” Louis grabbed Harry’s hand that was resting on his knee and intertwined their fingers. He didn’t stop him, just let the warmth of Louis hand and the feeling of it comfort him. 

“Okay, whatever you want.” He squeezed his hand and Harry’s gaze went to the ground. He felt a lump in his throat and tears were burning in his eyes but he didn’t let them out. 

“Let’s walk a bit more, yeah?” Louis stood up, pulling Harry with him. He didn’t let go of his hand and Harry was thankful for it. Rather then focusing on his thoughts he focused on Louis hand, the weight of it in his and the warmth that flooded through him. Louis’ hand was smaller then his yet they somehow fitted perfectly. He blindly let the older man lead him, his eyes still on the floor. 

“Haz, look up. Look up baby, it’s snowing.” Harry’s gaze slowly wandered up, first to Louis, where he saw small snowflakes caught by Louis’ eyelashes. He tilted his neck back and looked up at the dark sky where the white flakes were slowly falling down. Fist smaller ones but with every passing second they got bigger. He blinked against them, to prevent them from falling in his eyes. 

“It’s snowing,” he whispered back and then smiled. It was peaceful. The snow melted against their skin, turning into small water droplets that fell down their faces. 

Harry let his head fall forward again. “ _It’s snowing_.” His voice broke at the words and he couldn’t stop the sob that was coming out of his mouth. 

“Hey shhhh, you’re alright, shhh.” Louis wrapped his arms around Harry’s waist and hugged him close. Harry’s arms went around Louis neck and he hid his face in the crook of the older mans neck. 

“Shhh, let it out, that’s right.” Louis kept on whispering sweet nothings into his ear, his hand finding it’s way into Harry’s curls slowly stroking them. 

They stand like that for a while, Harry’s sobs being muffled by Louis neck and the snow was slowly falling down on them. “Let’s get you home, you’re probably exhausted.” Louis husky voice whispered and the older man gently unwrapped Harry from his body, his arm wrapping around Harry’s waist. 

It was then, that Harry noticed how cold it actually was and that his hands were shaking though he wasn’t sure if it was because of the crying or because of the coldness. Maybe a mix of both. 

They stepped out of the small park again where Louis’ driver was already waiting for them. Harry didn’t ask how he knew where they were, just was happy to step into the warmth of the car. When they were both seated the driver started the car and started to drive. 

“Lou? Could I stay at yours? I don’t want to be alone tonight.” He asked sheepishly and didn’t look up, too afraid of the reaction of the older man. “Of course Haz.” Louis answered almost immediately and Harry smiled. “Thank you.”

“Do you maybe want to drink something or watch something? You can go to bed as well, whatever you want.” Louis asked when they stepped into his house. Harry was quiet awake, his mind constantly reminding him of the bathroom scene. 

“Something to drink sounds nice. Maybe some more wine?” He suggest and Louis nodded. “I’ll get some, make yourself comfy in the living room.” Harry walked into the living room, where Clifford and Bruce where laying, their tails wagging when they saw him. 

“Hey guys,” he smiled at them and patted them, when they walked up to him. He sat down in the couch and hugged a pillow to his stomach. Clifford jumped on the couch and rested his head on Harry’s thigh. “Mhhh, what does your daddy say to you being on the couch huh?” Harry asked the dog who obviously didn’t give him an answer. “Well he’s certainly not very fond of it but he’ll let it slide for today.” Harry looked startled up at Louis, who smirked at him. He didn’t hear him enter the living room again. Louis had two wine glasses in his one and a bottle of wine in his other hand and put everything down on the coffee table. 

He gave Harry one of the glasses and they clinked them together, before Harry immediately took a big sip of it. “Well someone’s thirsty.” Louis stated and Harry blushed. “Sorry, just...it’s a good wine, tastes great.” The older man nodded at that and sipped on his own glass. 

“Why didn’t you just tell Cerise that you’re gay huh?” Louis asked after a while of them sitting in silence and Harry furrowed his brows. “What?”

“I mean he obviously didn’t stop asking about girls and you just dodged his questions. Why didn’t you just tell him?”

“Well you didn’t tell him as well so why should I?”

“How’d you know? That I didn’t tell him?” 

“Just guessed but I was right apparently.” Harry shrugged his shoulders. 

“Yeah, but he doesn’t try to set me up with girls and I don’t have to tell him ist not important.”

“See, besides I think it’s for the better if you don’t tell him.” Harry mumbled and Louis looked at him questioningly. “What’d ya mean?” Harry huffed and rolled his eyes. 

“He’s an homophobic piece of shit, that’s what I mean.” He muttered angrily and emptied his wine glass before filling it again. 

“And why’s that? Did he say something to you?” Louis voice was concerned now and he sat up straighter, leaning forward a bit. 

“Just heard him talk about fags.” 

“Did he call you one?” Harry shrugged but shook his head no. 

“Haz, did he call you a fag?” 

“Maybe, doesn’t matter.” 

“It does matter, it matters to me. Is that why you were so quiet after dinner? He was on the toilet with you right? You have to tell me things like that H, you can’t just bottle them up. So did he call you fag? Did he call you other things too?” Louis sounded angry and furious but yet calm. A weird mix that made him somewhat intimidating. 

“You like him, I’m not gonna say anything.”

“Doesn’t matter if I like him or not, just tell me.”

“No, I don’t want to.” 

“Did someone ever tell you that you’re fucking stubborn? Seriously H. I like him, yeah but I like you more. Now tell me and let me help you, please?” 

“‘m not stubborn.”

“You’re avoiding the question.”

“Give me more wine and I’ll answer.”

“You’re getting drunk.”

“Exactly.” Louis sighed but filled Harry’s glass up again the younger man smiled at that happily. He was tipsy, nothing more. Louis looked at him awaiting. 

“He called me a fag and a twink which I suppose is not that bad but he called me a fag, yeah.” 

“Oh Haz, I’m sorry. I’ll call him tomorrow and talk to him.”

“No, you’re not going to do that because if you say something to him, he’ll know I told you and we don’t want that.”

“Yeah we do Harry. What he did was wrong!” Harry took another sip of his wine. Maybe he should do a drinking game out of it. Every time Louis says something he has to drink? 

“Hey, funny side story, he told me that if I told you about anything that happened in the bathroom he’ll ruin my life. Which is pretty fucking funny if you ask me.” Drunk Harry was something else. He got drunk way to fast and wine me him just weren’t a good mixture. 

Louis groaned next to him. “I swear Haz, I’ll do far worse things if you don’t tell me what he did and say.” Harry was aware that he shouldn’t talk about it. Mr Cerise’s words were pretty clear and he honestly didn’t need his life to be more messed up. But Louis was looking at him with those _blueblueblue_ eyes, asking him to tell him everything and  _ dammit _ Harry was weak. So fucking weak for those eyes (and he was also drunk but that’s not important). 

“I was washing my hands, he came in... I didn’t think anything of it, just looked at him through the Mirror. When I asked him what he was doing he said it was odd, how I didn’t want to  _ fuck a girl _ , and that it’s also odd that someone like me got a job that’s so well payed. Then he proceeded to tell me that I’m a fag and that that is apparently a disease, surprise by the way you have it too.” Harry gave Louis a sarcastic smile but the older man was not amused. He looked with a serious and kind of shocked impression back to Harry. 

“Anyway, the best part has yet to come. I wanted to obviously get away but he didn’t let me so I asked what he wanted right? And he said  you  which basically makes him gay as well. He tried to open my trousers but was stopped by a waiter and a guest that had to pee or something. On the way out he said  _don’t tell anyone or I’ll ruin your life_.  That’s it, end of the story.”

“Haz, baby don’t joke about things like that. He assaulted you Harry that’s not funny or something we can laugh about. That’s something where you report it to the police and tell someone about it. That’s not alright in any way, do you hear me?” Louis scooted forward and hugged Harry to his chest. 

“It’s fine Lou, really.” 

“Fuck no it’s not. It’s anything but fine. Harry why did you think that that’s acceptable in any way?”

“I don’t but he made it pretty clear not to tell anyone and I’d be very grateful if you would talk to anyone about it. I can’t have my life more ruined than it already is, thank you very much.“ He mumbled against Louis chest, his voice being muffled by the clothes he was wearing. 

“Thank you for telling me Harry.“ The younger boy moved a bit away from Louis and looked up. “I mean it Lou, don’t tell anyone and especially don’t talk to him.” 

“Okay, I won’t, not for now. I’m glad the waiter came in.”

“Yeah, I am too.” Louis cupped his cheeks with his hands and let his thumbs slowly stroke over Harry’s cheeks. 

“I’m sorry that I put you in this situation, if I’d knew-“

“It’s not your fault Lou. You couldn’t have known.” Louis sighed and nodded. He was still kneeling on the couch, looking down at Harry.

“Are you okay?” 

“Nothing happened so it’s okay. I’ll get over it. The wine helps.” He joked but it was true, the shock of the situation had worn off and even though it was horrible, what scared him more was the thread that followed after it. A man with power telling you he would ruin your life is something you should take serious.

“You know, using alcohol and Humor as a coping mechanism isn’t very healthy.”

“Didn’t knew you were a therapist...you learn new things everyday.” 

“I’m not one, I just know a few things from my friend, the one with the journal y’know?” Harry nodded. 

“I use this journal a lot you know? I didn’t thought I would because i thought It’d be weird but it’s actually really helpful.” He said quietly, kind of scared to admit that, Louis who was still stroking his cheeks smiled at him. 

“That’s good H, makes me happy.” 

“Yeah?” Louis hummed and nodded. 

“Because you don’t tell anyone what you’re feeling you keep everything to yourself and this journal is a way for you to let go of some of the things.” 

“I suppose it is.” He didn’t know how it happened but Louis’ face was just mere centimetres from his face and they were looking into each other’s eyes.

“H, apart from everything, I want you to know that you’re not alone. You are not alone okay?” Louis’ thumb glided under Harry’s button lip, slowly sliding along the line. 

“Okay,” he breathed out and let his eyelashes flutter, looking up at Louis. He could feel his breath on his skin as Louis came closer to him. 

“I really want to kiss you.” He whispered softly and Harry smiled. “Then do it.” 

Louis carefully scooted closer and attached their lips together. Harry’s eyes fell shut the moment he felt Louis thin lips on him, gently moving against his. It was a slow, tender touch, just their lips moving until they’ve found a rhythm. Harry had to tilt his neck back a big, due to Louis still kneeling and his hands moved to the older mans waist, loosely holding onto it. 

Louis let his one hand wander into Harry’s hair, stroking through it. With the other hand he traced Harry’s jawline, down his throat to his neck. 

Harry felt goosebumps arising on the spots where Louis touched him. It was an innocent kiss really but Harry liked it just as much. His cheeks were a dark cherry red when Louis broke the kiss and they were both man panting a little bit. He opened his eyes again and smiled up at Louis, who looked flushed. The older man once again cupped Harry’s cheeks and this time let his thumb trace over swollen Harry’s bottom lip, pulling it down a little bit with a smile. 

“You taste of wine.” Louis said after a few moments and Harry rolled his eyes. 

“Well who would’ve thought.”

And what the fuck just happened? Louis kissed him. His boss kissed him. Is that even legal? It was good though, better than he could’ve imagined. Not that he did though! He didn’t, not even  _ once _ did he think of Louis (his boss!) kissing him. But if he would have, then it was way better than that. 

“Baby, stop overthinking everything.” Louis leaned forward again and pressed a chaste kiss to his forehead before standing up from the couch and grabbing their empty glasses. 

Harry followed his movements confused. 

“What’re you doing?” He pouted and Louis chuckled when he saw him. “Going to sleep, what does it look like?” Harry’s pout grew bigger at that and he crossed his arms over his chest. 

“You look like a child, c’mon. Today was exhausting,” Louis held his hand for Harry to take and pulled him up from the couch. “I left your toothbrush in the guest bathroom and I give you something comfy to wear.” Louis led him to the guest bedroom and Harry nodded. “Could I take a shower?” He asked as Louis opened the door. 

“Sure, everything’s in the shower and there are fresh towels in the cupboard. Just take whatever you need. I’ll put the clothes on your bed.” 

“Thank you Louis.” 

“You’re welcome,” Louis voice was soft and Harry couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. 

They stood there for a moment, just looking at each other until Harry cleared his throat, blinking down. 

“Yeah, right. Okay. Take a shower we’ll see each other tomorrow.” Louis nodded at him. 

“Goodnight Lou.” The younger man said softly and Louis smiled and stepped forward. Harry’s hopes of getting another kiss where quickly destroyed when Louis moved his lips to his cheek leaving a feather like touch on it. 

“Goodnight Haz,” and with that he was gone. 

Harry walked into the bathroom that was connected to the guest room. It was way more spacious then his bit to be honest, Louis house was ridiculously huge and had way more space than one single man could require. 

He turned the shower on and waited for it to warm up before quickly stripping off his clothes and stepping under it. He made a quick job of washing himself of, purposely ignoring his half hard cock. When he was done, he turned the shower cold and let the water hit him for a few moments before turning it completely off and stepping out of it, to wrap himself in one of the towels. 

He walked over to the pile of clothes Louis had left for him and put them on when he was dried, leaving the towel over his shoulders so that his hair wouldn’t wet his shirt too much. 

It’s been three hours since Harry turned off the light in the room and tried to fall asleep. Three hours of tossing and turning, sticking one leg out of the blanket, just to put it back in again, trying to lay on his stomach or his side and the pillow wasn’t cold on any of its sides anymore. It was hopeless and he honestly grew frustrated because he was so tired but just couldn’t fall asleep. Harry’s mind was just so full. 

If only he knew that Louis was struggling just as much as he was too fall asleep on the other end of the hallway. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MY GOD! OKAY, ITS HAPPENING. EVERYBODY STAY CALM. 
> 
> Anyway there we have our first kiss.  
> Do we like it? No.  
> Did I have a mental breakdown over it? Yessir.  
> But we’ll survive.  
> Bro honesty y’all hate me when I tell y’all that I wrote a whole make out scene put took it out last minute.  
> I’m saving it for later darling.  
> Also it seems like I can’t write fucking short chapters because this one has once again 5000-6000 words.  
> Love y’all see you soon.  
> And don’t forget to comment!!!! I live for your comments!!!!  
> xxxxxxxxxxxxx


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BESTIEEEES
> 
> I’m sorry that I didn’t post in so long but I was in a kinda bad mood and school sucks and it was really stressful. This chapter was also supposed to be a lot longer but I just wanted to post something and hopefully it won’t take me to long for the next one but her ya go

London was coated in a thin blanket of snow one week before Christmas. The streets where full of people, shopping Christmas presents or just going about there days and amidst all of it, where Harry, Liam and Niall, walking to a Christmas market. 

“Stop it Niall or I swear to god you’re not gonna make it home alive.” Liam called after a laughing Niall, who was throwing snowballs at him. Harry smiled and watched, happy that Niall didn’t chose him as his victim. 

The Irish formed another snowball and turned around to them, striking out before throwing the ball in their direction. Liam was quick to hide behind Harry this time, making the ball hit straight into his chest leaving a print before scrambling to the ground. Harry glared up at Niall and Liam, both boys laughing at him. 

“I swear it’s like I have children with me,” the youngest complained when Liam started to chaise Niall again, tackling people in the way. Harry threw them apologetic smiles and kept his own pace to the market. 

“Harry, y’know you have the longest legs of us and yet you’re walking the slowest. How does that work?” Liam and Niall where suddenly on each side of his, linking their arms together and tugging him along. 

“You were running and I was walking. What are you doing?” Harry asked as they walked faster. 

“We don’t have the whole day, we’re still meeting with Louis at the bar, remember?” Niall asked and Harry nodded his head. 

“I’m not sure if I’m still up for it though,” Harry said quietly and looked between his two friends. 

“Why’s that?” Liam asked with furrowed brows and Harry sighed. 

The thing is, Harry hadn’t told them, hadn’t told anyone in fact that he and Louis kissed. He didn’t want to make a big fuss about nothing because that’s just what it was, nothing. They kissed and so what? People kiss each other all the time so why read into it too much? 

The morning after the kiss was awkward as hell though. Harry was still tired from the lack of sleep he went through that night and Louis didn’t look much rested as well. They tip toed around each other for a bit, until Harry decides it was his time to go and Louis, ever the nice guy drove him to his flat in an uncomfortable silence. 

Harry screamed into his pillow when he came home, until he finally fell asleep. He honestly thought about calling in sick when Monday rolled around but he didn’t and turned up at work. When Louis acted like all of that never happened, Harry did too and that’s where they are now. 

They acted like nothing happened, which was fine with Harry, honestly. He liked Louis, liked having him as a friend and he didn’t want to ruin that. So he didn’t tell Liam or Niall or his mom or Gemma about the kiss because there was no reason for him to do so. 

But all of that still didn’t mean that Harry wanted to spend a night in a bar with him. It felt awkward now, weird and Harry and alcohol made him do stupid things. We know that by now. 

Alcohol was the reason he kissed Louis in the first place. It was a nice kiss though and if Harry closed his eyes he could still feel soft Louis’ lips on his.

“Just exhausted I guess, work’s been stressful lately and with Christmas around the corner, it’s a lot.” He shrugged it off and Niall pouted. 

“But you have to come, it’s the last week we’re all going to be together before Christmas.” He stated and Harry chuckled. 

“We’re gonna see each other on New Year’s Eve though, aren’t we? Been waiting the whole year for your party.” Niall smiled at that. He always insisted on throwing the New Year’s Eve party, claiming that because he was Irish he knew how to throw a good party. Neither Liam nor Harry understood but let him be, happy that they didn’t have to buy anything or clean anything (they still did though, they’re good friends). 

“Yeah but still H, Niall gonna be in Ireland by Thursday and I’m gonna drive home Saturday morning. We always go drinking the week before Christmas you can’t get out of it.” Harry huffed at that but didn’t say anything, his friends knowing that they won. 

They stepped into the Christmas market then, being met by the smell of hot chocolate, Rostand almonds and the cheery feeling, that Christmas put into you. 

“I need some food,” Niall told them immediately when he saw the different options of food he could get and walked off. 

“How can a single person eat so much?” Liam asked and Harry laughed. “It’s the Irish genes.” 

Niall came back with baked potatoes topped of with sour cream. 

“Let’s just walk around and stop whenever we feel like it.” They nodded to Liams plan because, well that’s kinda what you do at a Christmas market. 

“You’re gonna get your mom something?” Liam asked Harry when they were standing in front of a booth, eyeing some necklaces. Harry shook his head. 

“No, we agreed that we don’t gift each other since she can’t really buy anything but I figured I maybe get something for Gemma anyway.” 

“These ones are beautiful,” Liam pointed to another stand of necklaces and Harry tuned his attention to them. They did look beautiful, the work on them precisely and neat. Gemma would like them too. Harry hummed,” yeah, think I’ll get her one of those.”

He quickly payed for the necklaces, happy that it was still affordable for him and they moved on. 

“Didn’t you just ate?” They turned to Niall, who was eating a caramel apple and the blonde just shrugged. “Just want to have the whole experience. You want some?” He held the apple in front of their faces and Harry quickly shook his head no when he saw some of Nialls spit on it.  Gross. 

They slowly kept on walking around, stopping here and there but not really buying anything else besides some mulled wine. 

“We’ll need to go now if we want to be on time,” Liam said with a glance to his watch and they made their way to their favourite bar, that was luckily not too far away from them, so that they easily could work there. 

It was quite cold by now, Harry was freezing and tugged his hands into the pockets of his winter coat, his nose bruised into the scarf he was wearing. 

Louis was already standing in front of the bar when they arrived, smiling brightly at them and greeting them. 

“Well someone’s looking cozy,” he smiled at Harry whose eyes were looking over the scarf, his nose buried in the soft fabric. 

“m’cold.” His voice came muffled out and Louis laughed. “Yeah, I can see that. Let’s get in then before any of us catch a cold.” Liam and Niall were walking in front of them, talking about a new song that they’ve heard and liked. Louis put his arms around Harry, which made him tense up under the touch. Louis either couldn’t feel it through the thick fabric of Harry’s coat or just simply chose to ignore it and kept on leading Harry into the bar. 

“What do you want to drink, love?” Louis asked him before hey we’re sitting down and Harry thought a few seconds before shrugging. 

“Okay, I’ll pick something but alcohols fine?” Harry shrugged again and let out a small ‘I guess’ before sitting down, Louis walking to the barman to order their drinks. He didn’t have to ask Liam and Niall anymore, knowing that they would settle with a beer. 

“You guys are touchy.” Liam let his eyebrows waggle once and looked up at Harry, who was currently stuffing his scarf into the arm of his jacket. 

“What’d ya mean?” He simply asked, not looking up from his task. “Just observing and noticing Harold.” Harry furrowed his brows at that and sat down. 

“What’s that supposed to mean? You’re weird Li.” Niall laughed at that and leaned back in his chair. “Nothing H, just saw the way he was holding you.” Liam shrugged and Harry nodded. 

“Nothing wrong with that, we’re friends.” Liam didn’t say anything more when Louis returned with their drinks.

“What is this?” Harry looked at the drink that was placed in front of him and then up at Louis, who made a gesture with his band, telling him to scoot over. 

Harry did so, sliding his drink with him and Louis sat next to him. “It’s called dirty Shirley. Never drank it but thought you might like it.” He shrugged and Harry held it to his nose, sniffing it before they all clinked their glasses together. He took a small sip of it, letting it roll over his tongue and eventually deciding that he liked the taste of it. It was very sweet, which drowned out the taste of the alcohol, something that Harry enjoyed rather then the burning of the alcohol on his tongue. This only mattered as long as Harry wasn’t drunk of his ass and still clear of his surroundings when he was drunk enough, he didn’t really care. He didn’t plan on getting drunk today though. 

“What are your plans for Christmas?” Niall asked Louis and their attention turned to the blue eyed man. 

“Not much, ‘m Gonna drive down to me family, see my sisters and mom and that’s pretty much it.” Harry knew that already, Louis told him last week and but in a more excited way. 

“Sounds nice,” Liam smiled and Louis hummed. Niall and Liam proceed to talk about their holiday plans but Harry only listened half heartedly, having already heard everything. 

“You should really come, the more the better and Zayn too if he’s still in town.” At that Harry’s ears perked up and he frowned, not knowing what they were talking about. 

“I’ll think about it. Maybe I’m gonna stay in Doncaster.” He shrugged. 

“What are we talking about?” Harry asked. “New years eve I invited Louis and Zayn.” 

“Oh, yeah that’s cool.”

“Zayns not gonna be here though.” Louis stated and Niall nodded. 

“Aren’t you invited to like ten New Year’s Eve parties?” Harry turned to Louis again. In the past week there have been multiple invitations coming in for Louis. “Well yeah, but I hardly no them and I’ll bet Niall’s gonna be way more fun without all of these snobs.”

“Nialls party’s are always... crazy. Lot of shit happens there.” Harry laughed a little and Louis smiled at him. 

“Mhh, sounds good and you’re going to be there that’s a pro.” Harry’s smile disappeared a little at that and he cleared his throat, trying to hide his blushing cheeks behind his hand. 

“Ohhh, remember the guy that didn’t stop hitting on Harry last time?” Niall suddenly asked and immediately started to laugh after that, Liam chiming in when he remembered as well. “Not funny!” Harry frowned, turning even more red at the memory. 

“What did he do?” Louis asked interested and Harry sighed, shaking his head no. “Doesn’t matter was embarrassing enough.”

“Ohh but it was so good H.” Niall laughed and the younger boy rolled his eyes. “Tell me!” Louis demanded, chuckling because of Nialls laugh. 

“Okay so people always bring people y’know? So we didn’t knew everyone that attended Nialls party last year and one of them seemed to had a small crush on Hazza. It was alright in the beginning you know, a little bit of flirting here and there but mostly from his side. Harry wasn’t interested you could tell so the night went on, Harry was still being talked to by this guy- what’s his name again?”

“Chad,” Harry mumbled and Liam nodded at that. “Yeah, right. Anyway it came to midnight, you know everyone having there kiss and hugs were shared and Chad tried to snug Harry,”

“I turned away though, he wasn’t my type at all he was just annoying.” Harry added and took another sip of his drink. 

“Best part comes now, apparently had Chad a girlfriend and said girlfriend came into the room when Chad tried to snog Harry. They screamed so loud it was embarrassing and Harry was just standing in the middle of 

it.“ Louis laughed and Harry pouted. 

“I feel sorry for her.”

“Why, you did nothing wrong.”

“I was the reason they broke up.” He shrugged, making his friends laugh more. 

“You’re cute H, honestly doesn’t matter he was being a dick who wanted some dick.” Niall laughed at his own joke. 

“Nialls right. Not your fault not you problem.” Harry just shrugged again, sipping on his straw. 

*

It was Thursday, which meant that tomorrow was Friday, Harry’s last day of work before the holidays would begin and two day before Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve, which was also Louis birthday. Harry wasn’t sure if he should get him something or not and if he would, then what? 

Louis and him were friends and buying him something would make sense but Louis was rich. The man had everything he needed or wanted and if not he could buy it with a snap of his finger. Harry knew this so finding something he could get him was even harder. 

He could also just not get anything but that would be rude considering that Louis very often pays things for him. He argued with Louis over it more then once but the man insisted on it. He also never says anything when they were at the bar with Liam and Niall, always happy to buy them drinks. 

So what could he possibly get him, that wasn’t already in his possession?

He sighed and leaned back in his chair, looking out of the window in his office. London was white under him, more snow had fallen on the past few days and it didn’t melt away. 

“You look very busy.” A voice appeared behind him and startling him, making him lean abruptly forward in his chair his hand pressed to his chest. He looked up, seeing Louis standing there holding his laughter in. 

“You scared me!” He scowled, making Louis laugh out. “Yeah, and I’ll never get tired of it.” He sat down in one of Harry’s arm chairs and looked out of the window as well. 

“Looks pretty boring to me,” he stated after a few moments, making Harry huff. 

“It’s snow, it’s beautiful.” 

“Mhh, I know you’ve got a thing for snow,” Louis hummed and Harry looked up to him, remembering the day where he cried. “It was just a thing of the moment, I don’t have a thing for snow.” 

“Sure Harold. What where you thinking about then?” Louis asked, resting his legs on the other armchair. 

“Just Christmas, presents and stuff. Nothing important.” 

“Did you get Niall and Liam something?” Harry shook his head. 

“No, we only get something for birthdays and add some money to Nialls New Year’s Eve party. I only got my sister something, though we said we wouldn’t buy each other gifts. I just thought it’d be nice after all.” He shrugged and Louis nodded. 

“Yeah, that sounds nice and pretty stress free.” Louis chuckled and Harry hummed because yeah, it was more relaxed not having to stress about all of the presents and things like that. That was before he decided to get Louis something though. He sighed into the quietness of the room, Louis eyes snatching to his. “You’re alright?” 

“Yeah, just tired I guess.” 

“I’ll go make tea,” Louis got up from the chair and stood up, coming back shortly with two cuppas.

*

So yeah, Harry was currently out and about, between all the people that were shopping for Christmas presents. It was full and he hated it. A lot. Especially when he had to go from shop to shop and leave them all with empty hands. He let himself be carried by the masses, not really looking where he was walking. He gave up after three hours, feeling exhausted and worn out. He had to improvise, because he had to give it to Louis tomorrow. 

He got back into his flat, putting on some comfortable clothes and searching through everything in the hopes to find something. He didn’t. 

Another hour passed and he decided to make dinner, slowly accepting the fact that he probably wouldn’t have a gift for Louis by tomorrow. He could always give it to him after Christmas, on New Year’s Eve for example. 

Harry took the Mac and cheese he quickly prepared and sat down in his couch, starting Dawson’s Creek.He didn’t like being alone all the time and had considered getting a cat a few times by now but he just hadn’t had the money for it. 

He cleaned the kitchen when he was done and took his journal that was already halfway filled. He wrote a lot in it, kinda just everything. It calmed him in a way and it was a part of his nightly routine by now. 

He flipped through the pages, not paying close attention until his eyes caught interesting in one page. He turned to it again and read it quietly, smiling and taking a deep breath before ripping the page out. Careful not to destroy any of the words or rip it too much. 

He straightened the page with his hands before searching an envelope, neatly folding it that it would fit into the envelope. He wrote Louis’ name on it and placed it next to his keys, the snacks he bought for Cliff and Bruce resting next to it. 

He went into a peaceful sleep after that, happy that he found something Louis couldn’t have and that was personal. 

*

“Lou?” He knocked on the door to Louis’ office, quieting down when he saw the older man talking to someone on the phone. Louis gestured for him to sit down and he went to the couch, looking out of the window the envelope and present for Cliff and Bruce in his hand. 

He didn’t really pay attention to Louis’ phone call as he waited but looked up once Louis sat down next to him, saying goodbye to whoever he was speaking to. 

“Sorry, my mom she’s worried about me driving when it’s snowing.” He rolled his eyes but Harry could tell that he wasn’t really annoyed. “She’s right, be careful.” 

“I’m a good driver, everything’s gonna be fine. Now what can I help you with?” Louis smiled at him and Harry bit his lip anxiously. 

“I got this for you...” he held the envelope to Louis who took it from him, looking down on it. 

“What’s this?” He was about to open it but Harry stopped him. 

“No, don’t, it’s a... kind of a Christmas slash birthday present? For you... yeah. It’s not... I did it’s know what to get you since you... Y’know have everything but I still wanted to give you something. You can open it on your actual birthday or Christmas, I don’t care.” He explained with a shaky voice. Louis looked up at him again with a fond smile. “Oha and this is for Cliff and Bruce, they deserve it.” 

“Thank you Haz, I already love it. You didn’t have to get me anything though!” Harry shrugged because, well he kinda had to. 

“I’ve got you something as well actually.” Louis jumped up and walked to his desk, opening one of the drawers and taking a bag out of it. 

“Lou, you didn’t have to y’know? You already give me enough and-“

“I wanted to.” He interrupted him softly and Harry sighed, taking the bag from him. 

“Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome.” Louis replied and they smiled at each other. 

*

“We’ll see each other at Niall party, take care,” Louis hugged Harry close, his arms around Harry’s waist. 

“You too and be careful when you drive, I mean it Lou!” Louis chuckled and nodded before letting him go. 

“No reason to be worried baby,” Louis winked at him before turning around and walking away leaving Harry standing with red cheeks and an slightly open mouth. He shook his head and closed his mouth, heading in the other direction. Louis had too much of an affect on him. 

*

Celebrating Christmas, in an hospital has always something oppressive to it. The halls are quite and the lights low. It’s calm in a way, yeah but not in a nice way. It’s like death is lingering over it, planning his next move and being closer then on every other day. 

So to say that Harry didn’t like it was an understatement. But yet here he was, standing in front of the elevator that would bring him to his moms room. He pushed the button and stepped into it when the door opened, bringing him to his mom floor. 

He greeted the nurse that was walking past him. He’s seen her a few times but not as much as some other nurses. 

Harry knocked on the door, and stepped in when he heard the voice of his mom. 

“Merry Christmas mom,” he leaned down to her, kissing her cheek and started to place everything he brought with him on her table. 

“Merry Christmas baby. When’s Gemma gonna be here?” 

“Soon I suppose. She texted me when she was on her way so it shouldn’t take her too long anymore. How are you?”

“Alright. There were better days.” Anne smiled but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Harry frowned and walked over to her, taking her hand in his. 

“I promise it’s gonna be better soon. Did you talk to the doctor?” 

“Yeah, ‘course he put the pain medication higher but he said there isn’t much he can do. But let’s not talk about that, it’s Christmas Eve, let’s enjoy it.” Like in command, Gemma came in, putting the things she brought to Harry’s before greeting them. 

“It started snowing again,” she pulled the hat from her head and hung her jacket next to Harry’s before taking a chair and placing it next to Harry’s. 

“That’s beautiful, Christmas without snow isn’t Christmas.” Anne smiled and Harry hummed in agreement. 

“Okay, tell me what you’ve brought for dinner.” Their mom clasped her hands and looked excitingly to the things her children brought with them. 

“Well, I’ve got mashed potatoes and some vegetables, Gems was responsible for the roast.” Harry said as he started to unwrap the plates, Gemma helping him. 

“It smells lovely, thank you.” Anne gave them a warm smile and soon there was a comfortable silence over them while they enjoyed their food. 

When they were done, they played some games, chatting and Gemma and Harry drank some wine. They exchanged story’s and laughed and it was perfect in a way, that it couldn’t be described. 

Harry and Gemma started to quietly pack their things when Anne became tired, she was half asleep when they said there goodbyes, whispering  I love yous . 

“I missed this, us.” Gemma said in her way to the elevator and Harry nodded with a soft smile. 

“I know we said no presents... but I... I still wanted to give you this.” He got the small package out of his coat and handed it to his sister who smiled at him. 

“Thanks H.” Gemma started to unwrap it carefully, smiling brightly at him when she saw the necklace. “It’s beautiful Harry!” She gasped and took it between her fingers. When she looked up there were tears in her eyes and Harry hugged her. 

“I love you,” he mumbled into her hair before letting go again. “Can you help me put it on?” She gave him the necklace and Harry quickly close it behind her neck. 

“It looks beautiful on you.” 

“Happy birthday Lou,” he said into the phone, laying with his back in his bed, his feet on the floor. 

“Thanks love, how was Christmas Eve with your mom and sister?”

“Mhh, nice. Yeah it was nice. We talked and just had fun. What about you?” He asked, curious if Louis had already opened his present. 

“Loud and cheery. My sisters can be a lot but it was good, missed them. Me mom too.” Harry hummed and smiled. 

“I’m sure they missed you too.”

“Lottie asked about you.” Lousi said after a while and Harry furrowed his brows. 

“Why’s that?”

“She likes you, since you talked to her in that day. Wouldn’t stop asking things about you. I think someone has a crush on you,” Louis teased and Harry reddened at that. 

“Did you tell her I am gay?”

“And destroy her heart? No baby, that’s not what I’m about.” 

“It wouldn’t destroy her heart and I’m sure she doesn’t have a crush on me.” Harry ignored the pet name Louis gave him (as well as the butterflies that shortly erupt in his stomach). 

“Lou?” The older man hummed, waiting for Harry to carry on. “Did you open it yet?” He asked quietly and held his breath, waiting for Louis’ answer. 

“No, no I haven’t. Wanted to do it in peace when my sisters aren’t around to talk the shit out of me.” Harry laughed at that, not sure if he should relax or not. 

“Did you open yours?” 

“No, gonna do it tomorrow. It’s nothing too expensive right?”

“No, it’s not I know you wouldn’t accept it if it were but I’ll think you like it.” 

“Tell me about Doncaster,” Harry said after a while, curious about the place Louis grew up in. He scooted up until he was fully laying on the bed and put Louis on speaker, laying him near his ear. 

“You sound tired, you’re sure?” Louis asked and Harry hummed. “Yeah, I am.” It could be an answer to both things but Louis just started talking about the place and Harry listened until Louis’ husky voice pulled him into a deep sleep. 

“Goodnight baby,” Louis sighed quietly when he noticed Harry’s change in breathing telling him that the younger boy had fallen asleep and he hung up. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it and I promise it won’t take too long to write the next because I have one week of winter break and I hopefully can write a lot in this week  
> xx


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not me having disappeared for almost one month. Oops?
> 
> But hey I’m back with a new chapter. This one took me forever and honestly I’m disappointed and I also have no idea how long the next one will take but please bear with me because I fully intend on finishing this story and I also have so much more ideas for new stories so don’t leave me please. 
> 
> Also please please please stream defenceless because Lou deserves this more than anything

_ Today was a good day. I forgot how it felt to feel free. To not have to worry about everything. I forgot how it felt to feel young and restless and full of energy. This overwhelming feeling of adrenaline was something I haven’t felt in what feels like forever. But I did feel it and so feel more on that night in New York. Getting the tattoos was something that I will never regret in my life and when I think back to it I can feel it again. It was spontaneous but perfect. Running through the streets of New York made me feel like a child again. And all of this, all those feelings I felt in that night were because of Louis. And I’m so thankful for that. I wanted it to never stop. I want to always live in this moment of us getting tattoos and running through New York.  _

_ Thank you Louis for letting me breathe for a moment.  _

*

First thing Harry did in the morning was grab the bag that Louis has given him. It was sitting on the cupboard in his bedroom since he got it and he physically had to stop himself from opening it more then once but now he was allowed to and he couldn’t wait one more second. 

He gently pushed the tissue paper away and pulled out the package that was in there. Inside the box was a small light blue collar not much bigger then the palm of Harry’s hand. It wasn’t for humans, obviously not it was way to small for that. He furrowed his brows and took his phone out, calling Louis. 

“Hi Haz, Merry Christmas.” His voice came through the speaker, loud and happy. Harry could hear voices in the background but not what they were saying 

“Uhm Lou? I don’t really... understand the present... uhm yeah.” Harry Heard- Louis chuckle and knitted his brows even more together. 

“I kinda bought you a cat-“ 

“You what?” Harry’s voice sounded shrill as he interrupted Louis, his mouth slack. 

“Well, you told me you wanted one since forever and I didn’t know what else to get you.” 

“Lou, you can’t just... that’s why to expensive and I don’t have the money... Lou I can’t-“

“Haz, calm down will ya? I’ll pay for everything don’t worry and cats aren’t that expensive. You want one right?”

“Lou-“

“Harry, just answer my question.” Harry sighed and nodded, “yeah, I want one but that still doesn’t mean that you would buy me one. Where even is it Lou? Did you leave it somewhere alone? You can’t do that to a cat Louis!”

“I haven’t really bought one yet. Thought that when I’m back we can go together, so you can pick one.” 

“I can’t acceptance this Louis.”

“Please Haz.  _Please_ .” Louis begged and Harry rolled his eyes. “I’ll think about it. My presents like shit to that.” He added, laughing a little bit to make it sound like a joke even though he was completely honest. 

There was a moment of silence where they were just breathing into their phones. The background noises disappearing behind Louis. 

“It wasn’t shit, love. It meant a lot to me, means a lot to me and I’m happy to share that memory with you.” Louis said after a while, making Harry blush. 

“Thank you Louis.” He wasn’t really sure why he was thanking him- well he was but still. It wasn’t just for what he just said or the night in New York. 

They talked a little bit more after that, chatting about their plans. 

“When are you coming back?” Harry asked while he made himself some breakfasts, Louis on speaker on his kitchen counter. 

“Mhh, does someone miss me?” Harry huffed teasingly, “you wish.” 

“Well then, I guess never. Gonna stay here forever.” Harry pouted even though Louis couldn’t see him. Maybe that was even better after all. 

“What about my cat?” He asked and Heard- Louis laugh. 

“So you let me buy you one?”

“I don’t know yet. Just tell me when you’ll be back.” 

“Gonna drive back tomorrow at noon. We can go the day after if you want.” 

*

“I can’t believe I’m actually going to do this.” Harry looked out of the front window of Louis car where they were parking in front of an animal shelter. 

“Haz, it’s just a cat not a big deal.” Louis said once again. They were standing here for maybe ten minutes, discussing the same topic over and over again. Harry didn’t want to Louis to pay but Louis wanted and Harry also really wanted a cat. He was just too stubborn right now and his pride was kind of in his way. 

“Okay, how about we just go in there, look at the cats and if you really don’t want one of them, then we’ll just go.” Harry sighed and nodded, undoing his seatbelt. 

“Okay,” he opened the door and stepped out into the cold of London. Harry walked over to Louis and they made their way up to the front door of the shelter. 

“Hi, how can I help you today?” A woman asked them with a smile as soon as they step into the shelter and they smiled back at her. 

“My friend here, is a big fan of cats and thinks about adopting one. We thought we could maybe take a look at them?” Louis explains and the women nodded eagerly. 

“Of course, one just had load of kittens. Do you rather want a kitten or an elderly one?” She turns to Harry who shrugs with his shoulders “Uhm.. I don’t really care.”

“Okay great. Then I’ll just bring you to the room with the cats and later on show you the kitten. Is that fine with you?”

“Sounds great.” Louis smiles and they follow the women to the back, that led them into a hallway. 

“Okay, here’s the room with the cats. They’re all from 4 to 15 years old but are all harmless don’t worry. You can pet them all you want and on one of the shelves are treats but don’t give to many. I’ll be back soon.” She explained to them and opened the door for them. Harry’s eyes widen in excitement as he saw all those cats and he looked back to Louis who smiled at him fondly. 

( _ “They are all so cute, oh my god.” “I hate you Lou honestly how could I ever decide for just one? I want them all!” “Oh look this ones so cute? It has a black and a white ear.” “Louuuu.” _ ) 

That’s pretty much how it went the whole time. Harry loved cats, has always loved them so he honestly felt like he was in heaven right now. One cat that Harry found very endearing, was a black and white one who had an missing leg and she seemed to be just as intrigued by Harry. She was always close to him and meowed up to him, putting when he patted her head. 

“Isn’t she lovely?” Harry looked up at Louis, while he was squatting on the floor, patting the black and white cat. 

“Very much so. She seems to like you.” Harry hummed happily at that and they turned back to the door when it opened. 

“If you want I can bring you to the kitten now?” The lady asked but Harry shook his head no. 

“I think I’ve found the one I want, if it’s okay?” He turned to Louis questioningly because he was the one who was paying so Harry figured he should have a say in this as well. 

“‘course, whatever you want love.” Harry blushed and nodded. 

“I’d like this one.” He points to the cat that was still lingering by his feet, purring every time he scratched her head. 

“That’s such a wonderful choice, I’m so happy that Cherry finally is picked. She’s one of my favourites but often gets overlooked because of her missing leg. She’s very cuddly and an angel.” Harry smiled and stood up, trying to get rid of some of the cat hair that was all over his jeans. 

“Okay, so here is a blanket on which she always sleeps and one of her toys. She isn’t very picky with food, eats everything actually. She’s really easy to take care of and I’m sure she’ll have a loving home with you.” The woman put everything, including cherry in a box on the counter after she had Louis sign everything and pay for her. 

They said there goodbyes and headed to Louis car, Harry beaming. They put everything in the back seat and Harry walked over to Louis, hugging him. 

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” He mumbled into the older mans neck. “You’re welcome H.” Louis pressed him closer, holding onto the hug. 

*

“You definitely need a litter box and food and something where she can sleep.” Harry nodded and followed Louis into the pet shop where they started to pick everything out. 

“What do you think, blue or purple?” Louis pointed to the blue cat bed and Harry put it down into their shopping cart. 

That’s how it went for the whole trip, Harry holding things up for Louis and Louis picking one thing. Sometimes Harry smiled and nodded, happy with the decision of the older man and sometimes he furrowed his brows before shaking his head no. 

“Why do you even ask when you put the thing in you like more anyway?” He asked after Harry chose the opposite from what he chose for the third time. 

“Well, first of all because you pay so I want you to feel included and also because I like to hear your opinion. I just sometimes don’t agree with it.” Louis hummed but he had no idea what Harry was saying to him. 

They checked out soon after that, putting everything in the car and then proceeding to drive to Harry flat. His leg was shaking in excitement and he was leaning forward in his seat, looking back to Cherry every now and then. 

“Haz, baby calm down, you make me nervous.” Louis put his hand on Harry’s thigh, stopping the shaking. Harry slowly leaned back into his seat again, his eyes focused on the hand that was resting in his leg. “Sorry,” he mumbled out and Louis squeezed his leg once, before he put his hand back to the steering wheel. 

Harry had to stop himself from pouting because even though Louis’ hand on his leg was just a short touch to keep him from shaking it it felt warm and nice. He liked the feeling of Louis hand in his leg. He didn’t say anything though. Not that he could that is. That’d just be weird. 

Once they arrived at Harry flat they carried everything up and put it down in Harry living room where he opened the box from Cherry. 

“There you go,” he watched as the cat slowly peaked her head out, sniffing the air and working her way forward like this. Once she was all out of the box she blinked at Harry once before walking away from them. 

“Let’s set everything up for her.” Louis started with the litter box, which ended with him having a sneezing fit from the dust of it. 

“Are you okay?” Harry asked worried, a pack of Kleenex in his hand which he handed to Louis. “Thank you, yeah.” He sneezed once again, his eyes watery as he cleaned his nose.

Harry walked into the kitchen where he prepared a glass of water which he brought Louis. 

“Just sit down for a moment, I do the rest.” Louis nodded and sneezed one more time, making Harry laugh. 

He filled a bowl with water and sat it down on a mat in the kitchen and filled another one with food. He then placed her bed next to his couch and sat down next to Louis. 

“Thank you so much.” 

*

Harry was wearing black skinny jeans and an floral blouse that was very much see through. His hair was styled in its usual way and he was wearing black boots. He was just very unsure about the shirt. If it was too much, too risky maybe? He felt good wearing it though, liked how his tattoos could be seen through it. 

He eyed himself in his mirror for the what felt like millionth time now. A look on his phone told him that he would need to go now, if he wanted to help Liam and Niall set everything up for the New Year’s Eve party. 

“Wish me luck Cherry.“ He looked down at his cat who was stroking along his legs, looking up at him. Harry didn’t know for what he needed luck. 

“Fuck H, you look good,” Niall greeted him with a whistle making him love. “Thank you. You don’t look bad yourself.” It was true, Niall was wearing some purple pants with a white shirt. Not everyone could pull it off put he made it look really good. 

“Li’s in the kitchen preparing snacks.” Harry followed his friend into the kitchen where he hugged the brown eyed man. 

They chatted and teased each other while they prepared everything, already starting with the drinks to warm up. When everything was done they met in the kitchen again, Liam handing them shot glasses filled with something clear. It was kind of a tradition for them to drink a shot before the party would start, they always do this. They clink their glasses together and Harry tosses his head back, shivering when the strong alcohol burns his throat. 

*

The party was full. Too full. There were more people than the last time and you barely could walk around. Harry was standing somewhere on the side, alone. Liam, Niall and him were standing together in the beginning, chatting and drinking but when more people came, they split there group. By now, he had no idea where they were.Harry had a drink in his hand, something sweet but strong it was probably his fourth one of these and he felt already dizzy from the alcohol. It was good though.

“Can’t believe you’re just standing on the side when there’s a whole party going on!” Harry was startled and turned around at the sudden voice behind him. He relaxed when he was met by blue eyes that were smiling up at his. 

“Lou, you’re here!” He wrapped his arms around Louis, giggling a bit because he was happy to see the older man.

“Yeah, I mean I told you I would come.” He let out a husky chuckle and hugged Harry back, his hands on Harry’s waist. 

“C’mon, let’s get you something to drink.” Harry started to make his way through the crowd, Louis following close behind him until they were in the kitchen. The younger boy opened the fridge where he pulled out a cold beer and handed it to Louis who thanked him. 

“Are you already drunk Harold?” He asked teasing him and Harry shrugged his shoulder. 

“Just having fun, s’all. And these taste really good.” He holds his cup up for Louis before drowning the rest of it. 

“What are you drinking then?” Harry shuttled again and opened one of the bottles that gel his drink. “No idea but its sweet and looks cute,” Louis watched him pour the pinkish liquor into the cup and smiled when he was done. 

Louis looked good, Harry noticed. He was wearing grey suit pants with a white button down, having the first few buttons opened just like Harry had, revealing his chest tattoos. 

*

It was one hour until midnight and Harry had fun. He was dancing and laughing and everything was a bit blurry but it was good. He stumbled to Louis again who was talking to Liam. Without thinking much he just slumped against the brown eyed man who caught him and held him by his waist. 

“God you’re drunk H.” Harry giggled and nodded at Liams words and leaned against him. “‘m havin’ fun. Wanna get laid.” He mumbled out with a pout. 

“Maybe when you’re not so drunk, yeah?” Liam suggest because he’s a good friend and Harry couldn’t think straight right now. 

“No! T’night.” Liam sighed and looked at Louis was was standing with an eyebrow raised and watching them. 

“Oh fuck! Okay Louis could you watch him, I need to go to someone I promised to meet here.” Liam suddenly hands Harry over to Louis, who put his arms around the younger man holding him up. They silently watched as Liam rushed to a dark haired girl and greeted her with a kiss to her cheek. 

“Didn’t know Payne had a girlfriend,” Louis looked to Harry who shook his head. “He doesn’t.” 

“Hey, what about some water?” Louis suggests, which made Harry pout. Water was tasteless and he didn’t like it. Not right now at least. 

“Please baby?” Louis tried with a soft voice, squeezing Harry’s waist and how could Harry ever deny Louis something when he was talking like that? He couldn’t is the thing but maybe it was just because he was drunk as hell right now. That’s probably it. 

“Like it.” He mumbled with a soft smile and Louis looked up to him. 

“Like what?” Louis asked, not catching up with what Harry meant. He started to walk them in the direction of the kitchen. 

“When you call me baby.” Harry stated without thinking much. Because he did like it. A lot actually. It made him feel  _ something _ . His knees get wobbly and he felt like his insides would turn around but in a good way. 

“You like that?” Harry hums and nods, starting to sway his hips to the music. He was completely out of rhythm but he couldn’t care less. He leaned back into Louis some more, who gave his best to hold him up and started to grind against him.

“Okay let’s maybe not do that,” Louis’ grip on him gets stronger, stilling his movements and Harry whines. “Meanie,” he mumbled out making Louis laugh. 

“Just looking out for you, be good. Now let’s find you some water and help you sober up a bit.” He drags Harry further along to the kitchen where he leans him against the counter to make sure he doesn’t fall. 

“There you go, drink it.” He hands Harry a bottle of water with a straw on which Harry starts to suck while looking at Louis through his eyelashes. The water felt good against his throat and helped him getting a little bit clearer. 

“‘m done,” he said after a while, handing the half empty bottle back to Louis who closed it. 

“What time’s it?” 

“Uhmm like 11.50.” Louis said with a look to his watch and Harry gasped. 

“Almost midnight! Lou, I need a kiss!” He clutched Louis arm, tugging him out of the kitchen again into the living room where most of the people were. 

Niall was currently speaking through a microphone announcing that there were just ten minutes left making the room cheer. 

Harry was suddenly stopped and crashed back into Louis’ chest. “Hey,” he whined dragging it out. 

“Calm down a little you’re drunk H,”

“‘m not.” He argued, hearing Louis sigh. 

“Just stay with me? Please?” Harry furrowed his brows but nodded once he saw Louis eyes looking up into his. “If you want.” He shrugged and Louis smiled. “Yeah, thank you.” He pulled him back to the spot where he was standing with Liam earlier who was nowhere to be seen now. 

Harry started to babble something which Louis couldn’t quite understand, he just nodded and hummed along. 

“Lou?” Louis turned around to Harry, facing him fully when the countdown started. 

“10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…Happy New Year!” Everyone screamed and Harry lurched forward, attaching his lips with Louis. The kiss was hard and made Louis stumble into the wall behind him. 

He pulled away, looking up at Harry whose eyes were looking daze because of the alcohol. 

“H, I-“

“Please Lou, c’mon.” He moved forward again,glad that Louis didn’t stop him and attached their lips again. Louis grabbed his hips and turned them around, making Harry fall against the wall with a gasp, that let Louis push his tongue into Harry’s mouth. 

Louis tasted of beer and cigarettes but it wasn’t unpleasant because in a way he tasted like Louis and besides, Harry couldn’t care less because he got his New Years kiss with someone he knew and not some random stranger. Louis’ hand cupped Harry’s cheeks, his thumb gently caressing it while Harry’s hands grab Louis’ waist, just staying there loosely. 

Louis gently pulled Harry’s bottom lip with his teeth, which made Harry let out a moan before he could stop it. He felt himself blush but Louis didn’t stop, just started to trail kisses down to Harry’s jar where he nibbled a bit and then further down to Harry’s throat. 

Harry’s eyes where shut and he just lived in the feeling of Louis mouth on his skin, his hot breath that was trailing over it. He tilted his head to the side when Louis started to suck on an sensitive spot. He was panting and letting out small gasps. 

Louis blew, once he was done on Harry’s neck, cold air on the spot he just sucked on, making Harry wince at the feeling. He started to kiss his way up again until his lips were on Harry’s again. And  _ god _ , Harry couldn’t get enough. 

Louis lips where soft against his and he never wanted the feeling go away. 

This time, the kiss didn’t last as long and Louis pulled away with one last kiss to the corner of his mouth and then to his cheek. “Happy new year baby,” he whispered which rose goosebumps on Harry’s skin. “Happy new year Lou.” 

Harry smiled at the small gesture, his eyes still closed when he leaned his head against the cold wall behind him. 

Louis Tomlinson kissed him, for the second time  _ and _ he gave Harry a hickey. He slowly blinked his eyes open and found Louis, still standing in front of him. His chest rising at a rapid pace and his lips lightly swollen and red. Harry beamed at him, not able to contain the smile and the happiness he felt in this moment and it got even wider when Louis smiled back at him. 

The last time they kissed, they didn’t talk about it. It was like an quiet agreement between them to not talk about it and Harry wondered if it would be like this again. Because when you cut it down, to what it is, then is Louis Harry’s boss and Harry is Louis’ employee. 

He closed his eyes again. Harry didn’t want to think about things like that right now. 

*

Harry woke up by the sound of shattering glass. It took him a few moments until he fully took in his surroundings and knew where he was. He was lying on Nialls couch, on his stomach with one arm hanging down to the floor. As soon as he opened his eyes, his head started to hurt and he could feel he was still a little bit dizzy. He let out a groan, not liking the feeling of being hungover at all. 

“Sleeping beauty is awake.” He turned around where he saw Louis standing with a plastic bag, throwing away glass bottles that were scattered all around the floor. 

“H, get your ass up and help us clean!” Niall suddenly called from behind the couch and he groaned again. 

“Don’t wanna.” He laid back down again, hiding his eyes with his forearm to protect them from the blinding light that hurt his eyes. 

“Don’t care mate, Liam’s in the kitchen let him give you some water and Advil and you’re fine.” 

“I hate you.” He mumbled under his breath but got up from the couch nevertheless. Niall send kissing sounds after him, which made him flip the Irish guy off. Louis laughed and said something but he didn’t hear it anymore. 

All he wanted right now was take a shower and get some sleep until the headache and the dizziness would disappear. There was nothing worse than being hungover- in Harry’s opinion at least. Maybe it was just right now because he felt like utterly shit and he just wanted it to stop. 

Liam smiled at him and gave him water and Advil without Harry having to ask for it. 

“Thanks Li,” he took one sip of the water and swallowed the pills with it.

“You’re welcome Harry.” Liam gave him a warm smile and started to clean the counter again. 

“How’s it that you’re all are doing well?” Liam laughed and shrugged his shoulders while Harry sat down on one of the stools. 

“Guess we just didn’t drink as much as you did and you’ve always been a lightweight H.” Harry hummed and put his head on his arms, closing his eyes. 

“Y’know that you can’t hide from Nialler here right?” Liam asked after a while and Harry just nodded. He stayed in this position for the next ten minutes until the painkiller started to work and he got up from his seat and took a trash bag. He slowly started to collect empty cups and threw them into the bag. 

It took them at least four hours to clean everything and make Nialls flat look like it did before. Harry slumped down onto the couch and closed his eyes. He was exhausted and his head hurt and he started to feel hungry and he really, really needed as shower. 

The other three sat down beside him. They were seemingly exhausted and all suffered from lack of sleep. Without thinking he let his head roll to the side and placed it on the shoulder of the person sitting to his left. 

“I think I’ll head home,” Liam announced after a while of them just sitting there and saying nothing. 

“No pizza?” Niall asked from Harry’s right, which could only mean that the person he was laying against right now was Louis. 

He opened his eyes and could see the white button down that Louis was still wearing from the evening. He sat up straight with a blush that was coating his cheeks and looked up to Liam who gave him a knowingly look. 

Harry furrowed his brows at the brown eyed because there was nothing there. Nothing to know, no reason for Liam to look like he knew something Harry didn’t even knew. 

“No mate, I need some sleep but we can order on Friday and make a movie night?” Liam suggest and answered Niall questions from before. 

“Sure, sounds good.” The Irish agrees and hugged Liam goodbye. 

“Are you two up for it as well?” Liam bend down and hugged Harry who shrugged with a, “sure.” 

“Depends on what movie we’re watching but why not. Just text me where we watch it. We can also watch it at mine, I don’t care.” Louis offered and said his goodbyes to Liam who smiled and nodded. 

“Bye lads,” and with that, Liam was gone. 

“I called my driver, he’s going to be here in ten. Harry, if you want I can drop you off at your flat?” 

“Uhm, sure. Yeah thanks.” Harry smiled at Louis before looking at Niall with a helping look which was returned with a confused one. Harry sighed but just shook his head, telling Niall it doesn’t matter. 

Harry didn’t want to be alone with Louis right now, for the simple reason that he really didn’t want to talk about the kiss or whatever you want to call it that happened last night. 

The fact that this happened twice now, didn’t sit right with Harry because he knew it was wrong and Louis probably knew it too. He just really didn’t want to talk about it. 

It would make things really awkward and Harry didn’t like awkward. There was also no need for them to talk about it, if they would just focus on not letting it happen a third time. It was just a spur of the moment really. They were both drunk, both times. That’s all. 

“Okay, he’s here. Ready H?” Harry nodded and got up, hugging Niall goodbye. He was already wearing his shoes and he quickly grabbed his coat before following Louis outside of the flat. 

They were mostly quiet and Harry couldn’t really tell if it was just because they were tired or if it was because they kissed  _ twice _ now and haven’t talked about it. Won’t talk about it probably. 

He let out a quiet breath and looked out of the window of the car. London was proper dirty one day after New Year’s Eve, and it felt like he could still smell the fireworks lingering in the air. It wasn’t a rather unpleasant smell and he wasn’t, has never been a big fan of them. Sure, they looked lovely but they were loud, so loud and also bad for the environment and animals so Harry didn’t like them, no matter how colourful they could be. 

“And, did you have fun last night?” Louis asked after a short while of them sitting in silence and Harry wasn’t sure if he was implying anything with the question. Like  _ did you enjoy being kissed? _

“Yeah...sure,” he settled after blinking at Louis dumbly for a few seconds. The man gave him a pressed smile and Harry was sure by now that it was in fact awkward. “Guess I should ask you though… since you were there for the first time.” He elaborates further and Louis shrugged. 

“I had fun, can’t quite remember how I fell asleep on the couch but had a good time.” Harry furrowed his brows because Niall only had one couch and he’s pretty sure he woke up on it. Alone. 

“You mean like... the couch I woke up on?” He asked his voice sounding high so he cleared his throat. Louis hummed and nodded. “Yeah, same couch you were all cuddled up to me and I think I even saw some drool coming out of your mouth.” He teased and Harry’s cheeks reddened in embarrassment. So they were apparently not talking about the kiss but about something way more embarrassing Harry did  _ not _ intend to happen. 

“I’m so- I had no idea Lou.” He squeaked out and heard a chuckle. “It’s fine, nothing to be embarrassed for Haz.” And yeah, there was that nickname again. Even though he’s been called these all his life, hearing them coming from Louis was just... different. He couldn’t explain it. 

“I normally don’t drool, I swear!” He defended himself weakly earning just a laugh from Louis. 

“It’s fine, I promise.” Harry pouted but didn’t say anything. 

“Listen H, about the-“ before he could finish his sentence he was interrupted by the driver, telling them they arrived at Harry’s flat. 

Harry didn’t move, just looked at Louis expectantly, waiting for him to continue. He didn’t. 

“Nevermind love, I see you on Wednesday, don’t be late.” Harry frowned but unbuckled himself from his seat. 

“Thanks for the ride, I guess.” He opened the door and got out of the car, turning around one more time. “Bye Louis,” he mumbled out and closed the door before he was able to answer. 

He quickly walked up the stairs to his flat, not feeling like taking the elevator. As soon as he stepped into his flag he greeted Cherry who greeted him happily. He gave her food and filled up her water and then took a long shower and maybe have a wank as well. He blushed when he saw the purple bruise on his neck, looking back at him as if it would judge Harry and it just reminded him of the kiss and Louis’ lips.

Once he got out he dressed himself in comfy clothes and ordered himself take out, before slumping on his couch and watching a tv show, Cherry cuddled close to him. 

He forced himself to not think about certain blue eyes or soft lips on his because that would probably lead into a mental breakdown and he couldn’t have any of those right now. 

Maybe he should talk about it with Niall or Liam, maybe even Gemma. Or quit his job because honestly Harry hated direct confrontation and pretty much ignored things until they eventually just disappeared and he wouldn’t have to bother with them anymore. So he really hoped just ignoring Louis, and Louis lips on his and the way Louis hands touched Harry’s would work. It probably wouldn’t. Harry wants to believe it would. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey bestieeees   
> I hope you liked this one please pleas comment something because I live for your comments and they help me to write better because y’all are actually so good at telling me what you like and what not and it honestly helps me so much. Because y’all are also so fucking nice and I love y’all. Xxx


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m back besties!!!  
> And it’s Valentine’s Day so yay?  
> Anyway here is your new chapter xx

Harry was tired. He barely slept the whole night, his mind full with thoughts that sleep just wasn’t an option. Nonetheless he was walking into the office building at 8 am and immediately started to work. He checked emails, answered them and planned meetings for Louis and it helped in a way. Working took his mind off of things like Louis for example. Or more precisely kissing Louis. Because Harry thought about that a lot in the past few days and he almost called Louis once, wanting to talk about everything with him but he came back to his senses. 

He and Louis worked together and Louis was his boss. And he probably shouldn’t make such a big deal out of two kisses because it didn’t matter. People kiss all the time and as long as it doesn’t happen again, Harry fine with it, really. He also doesn’t want to know how people would react when they found out that Louis was snugging one of his employees. It’s unprofessional, throws bad lighting at him and Harry doesn’t want that. 

He sighed an slumped back in his seat, throwing a glance at his watch. It was almost lunch time and he still hasn’t seen Louis today. Which is unusual actually. He gathered his things and walked out of his office in the direction of Louis’ where he knocked on the wooden door. 

He waited for Louis to call him in and once he heard the older mans voice he stepped into the room which was a mess. 

“Uhm.” He started but closed his mouth right after, just watching Louis frantically walking around, quietly mumbling to himself. He looked stressed and tired with his hair a bit disheveled like he ran his hand through it too often. 

“Louis?” He asked after a few more moments of him searching through files and opening drawers. It was then that he looked up at Harry, startled as it he didn’t knew he was there. 

“What’s up?” He asked and Harry frowned. “Uhm well, it’s lunchtime? And I haven’t seen you all day so I thought I asked if you wanted something?” 

“Aw, did you miss me love?” Louis teased him and it kind of relaxed Harry to see him smile. Louis had a tendency to overwork himself. 

“Nah, just noticed that you haven’t annoyed me today s’all.” He smirked and Louis flipped him off. “Rude, I’m your boss have some respect!” 

So they were normal, they acted normal as if nothing ever happened which was good. This is how it’s supposed to be and Harry was thankful that it wasn’t tense or awkward. 

“So do you want anything or can I help you with anything?” Harry offered and watched Louis pushing some papers from his couch before sitting down. 

“I got a call yesterday, about a potential client who would be really good for the company but I need to find this one file, that I know I have here somewhere but I just can’t find it.”

“Don’t you have it in your computer?” Harry asked and Louis shook his head no. 

“Well, I can help you find it maybe it’s in one of the file cabinets outside?” Louis hummed and nodded. “Yeah, haven’t looked there.” He stood up and walked over to his desk, while Harry still stood close to the door. He got his wallet out and walked over to Harry again. 

“Here,” he handed Harry some money which he took confused, ”go grab us something to eat and then come back and I hope I’ve found it by then. Then we can discuss the client I think your opinion will be good on this.”

“I can pay, you don’t always have to.” Harry stated while Louis opened the door for him. 

“It’s fine H, promise now get me something greasy like pizza alright?” Harry nodded, knowing that it wouldn’t work discussing Louis on it. 

Half an hour later and Harry walked back into Louis office with two pizzas. He carried them to the couch, that was a bit more clean by now and turned around to his boss, that was sitting on it hunched over some papers. 

“D’you find it then?” He asked and Louis head swung up with a smile and a nod. 

“I did. It was in one of the cabinets outside should’ve asked you way sooner.” Harry hummed and sat down as well. 

They started on the pizza, while Louis explained Harry everything there is to know about the potential new client and Harry could tell that Louis really wanted them. They would bring a lot of profit after all. 

“I talked to them and they invited me over to Paris to discuss a potential deal.” 

“Paris? That’s so cool! I’ve never been but always wanted to go.“ Harry said between a few bites and Louis smiled at him. 

“Well good thing that I’m planning on taking you with me then innit?” He grinned and Harry’s eyes widen at that. 

“Are you kidding?” Louis shook his head, smiling at Harry who seemed to not believe him. 

“Why should I? I need you there as my assistant. You’re good with people and I like to have some company as well. Last time was fun.“ He shrugged at Harry who’s smile grew at Louis words. 

New York was a lot of fun, he knew but hearing it from Louis was nice. Though he would consider him and Louis as friends, it was still making him happy to hear that Louis enjoyed his company. 

“It’ll be just for two days though and I’m not sure how much free time we’ll have but I’m sure you won’t have to go everywhere with me so you’ll get to explore the city a bit if you want.” Louis explained further making Harry  _ almost _ pout. Exploring a city alone wasn’t really that much fun. Harry hummed and nodded anyway and listened to Louis attentively when he started to talk more about the other company. 

“I already booked the tickets for the plane, we’ll be flying on the first of February which is an Wednesday and get back on Friday. Is that alright with you?” Harry nodded, because he wasn’t really in a position where he could say no to something like that even if that would mean he would spend his birthday in Paris. Which may have some perks but also means that he won’t have Niall and Liam or his mom and sister to celebrate it with. 

*

“Haz, what’s it with you? You’ve been distracted the whole evening.” Niall snapped Harry out of his dream world, which mostly consisted about the kisses he and Louis shared. And the hand holding. And maybe also the pet names Louis sometimes calls him. 

He blinked at Niall a few times and shrugged.

Niall still looked at him when Harry started to pull on the label of his beer bottle. The two were at Nialls flat right now and though Liam was supposed to be here as well, he had to cancel because he was on a date apparently. They didn’t know who the girl was he went out with, Liam refused to tell them for whatever reason but, no matter what they tried they couldn’t coax it out of the brown eyed man. 

Harry sighed. He knew it would feel good to open up to someone, anyone really and he also knew that Niall was his best friend. That he always had an ear for Harry and that he would listen to him. 

“Okay, No you have to promise me, you want judge me.” Harry frowned when Niall laughed at that, silencing the Irish who seemed to realise that he wasn’t joking. “Sure H, just tell me.”

Harry put his bottle down on the coffee table and hugged one of his legs to his chest, resting his arms on it. 

“I did something really stupid, like twice? And I don’t know what to do about it.” He started vaguely, confusing Niall. 

“Harry, it can’t be that bad. Not like you killed someone,” he chuckled but then his eyes shot up at Harry, “you didn’t kill anyone right H?” 

“What no! Course not what the fuck Niall?” He gave Niall a face and shook his head. Rolling his eyes at the relieved breath Niall let out. 

“Me and Louis, kissed. Like twice.” So it was out. It was the first time he said it out loud and he had yet to decide if it was something he liked saying. It felt kind of relieving to say it though and Niall slumped back in his couch. 

“That has you working yourself up the whole time?” 

“Well yeah. It’s a disaster, I don’t know what to do anymore.” Niall laughed at him. Like really laughed and Harry just sat there looking dumbly at his best friend. 

“H, I love you, you’re the cutest thing in the world!” Niall laughed out and Harry grew impatient and angry. 

“What do you mean?” He asked making Niall laugh even more. Honestly there was no reason and he was overreacting. 

“Mate, so what? You kissed Louis twice. He’s a good lad and you get on well. Go on a date or something.” 

“We can’t- Niall he’s my boss! I work for him that would be irresponsible and would cast apoor light on him and me as well.” 

“That’s what he said?” Harry shook his head at that, “No, we never talked about them. The first one happened at his house, after a dinner we went to and it was nice, sweet but we just ignored it and I thought he probably regretted doing it. We never talked about it and just went on as if nothing ever happened. The second one on New Year’s Eve and we didn’t talk about that one as well. This one was way more passionate though and I don’t know. It just really confuses me.” 

“Mhh, I think I saw the one on New Year’s Eve. He was full on snogging you.” Harry rolled his eyes but couldn’t contain the small smile and blush that appeared on his face. 

“H, honestly just talk to him. Tell him how you feel about everything and if you want it to stop then tell him that as well. From all I know, he’s really nice and likes you a lot so he probably will listen to you and do what you want.” 

“I don’t even know what I’m supposed to say. Hey Louis, maybe stop kissing me and call me baby as long as we’re working together?” 

“He’s calling you baby?” Niall asked him surprised and Harry nodded with a dopey smile.  _ Christ, _ what was wrong with him?

“Sometimes, yeah.” 

“You don’t look like you want it to stop.” Harry opened his mouth to defend him but closed it when nothing came out. Niall smirked at him. 

“It doesn’t matter, it’s wrong and that’s the only thing that is important.” 

“But like he’s his own boss, he gets to decide whether a relationship with someone he works with is acceptable or not.” And yeah, maybe Niall had a point with that. But. Harry knew how things like that are looked at. At least he believed he knew. It inappropriate in a way. 

“He’s also older then me.” Niall snorted and shook his head. “Yeah for like what, 5 years?” 

“8 years.” He corrected quietly. 

“Doesn’t matter H, you like him right?” 

“I don’t know. Maybe? As a friend for sure. I don’t really know Niall. We’re flying to Paris on two weeks, do you know?” 

“On your birthday?” Harry hummed and nodded. “Yeah, for work.”

“That’s.... romantic?”

“No that’s- it’s not. It’s not supposed to be. Louis is my boss and I’m content with it staying that way.”

“You should still talk with him, tomorrow maybe?” 

“Yeah maybe.”

*

So they really ended up spending their movie night at Louis’ house. Niall, Liam and Harry all arrived together with two six packs and some snacks. As soon as they made themselves comfortable on Louis big couch, with blankets and pillows all around them, Louis ordered probably more pizza then needed and started in making popcorn. 

“Did you talk to him?” Niall, who was sitting next to Harry right now whispered and he shook his head. “Not at work and right now is not the right time.Maybe later, or tomorrow.”  _ Or never, _ he thought but didn’t say. Though, Niall probably knew. 

The Irish squeezed his thigh in a comforting gesture which made Harry smile. Niall could be a menace but in the end, he was Harry’s best friend and always there for him. Harry could count on him, he knew and it felt good to have someone to share all the thoughts that have been circulating in his head with. 

“Oi, you texting the girl you went out with?” Niall chucked a pillow at Liam who glanced at him but nodded.

“Give us some detail Payno, c’mon lad.” He whined and Harry laughed but still looked at Liam expectingly. They normally didn’t keep things like that a secret but Harry probably wasn’t any better because Liam still didn’t knew about the kisses he had with Louis. 

“Her names Maya.”

“And?” Niall asked further. 

“And what?” 

“Mate, how does she look like, how’d you meet her. What she doing for a living. Give us something.” Harry nodded in agreement and Liam sighed but pulled out his phone and showed them a picture. 

“She’s 19, she’s still in university and we met through her brother who’s one of my coworkers.”

“Oh isn’t that the girl you saw on New Year’s Eve?” Harry recognised her now and Liam nodded with a smile. 

“Yeah, we get on really well.” He blushed and Niall nudged Harry with his shoulder. Liam was in love. 

It took them some time to decide which movie they were gonna watch. Louis and Harry insisted on watching some kind of RomCom movie preferably love actually or the notebook while Liam wanted to watch an action movie and Niall didn’t really care but also wasn’t very fond of watching a romantic movie considering that he didn’t have much love in his life right now and due to his words it  _ would just make him more sad _ . 

So they settled with watching Guardians of the galaxy which made Liam happy and Niall too and Harry and Louis pouted but still enjoyed the movie a lot. 

Harry couldn’t keep in the quiet giggles that escaped his mouth as soon as Louis started to whisper him comments about the movie in his ear and compare some of the characters to people they worked with. 

His arm was resting on the couch behind Harrywhich allowed the man to lean even closer to Harry. A nice shiver went through Harry every time Louis’ warm breath was hitting his cheek. 

It was when Louis said something particular funny, that he let out a loud snort which landed them both annoyed glares from Niall and Liam. Harry muttered out a small sorry and turned back to the big flat screen that Louis owned. It was really huge and the quality was really good. He thought they should always spend their movie nights here. He also wouldn’t mind watching a romcom with Louis alone. 

Louis didn’t stop with his comments throughout the whole movie and Harry had to try his hardest to contain his laughter at some moments. 

They started to talk about everything really when the movie ended and at one point it was already way past midnight and they were all a little bit tipsy. 

“I need to go head home. I am going for a lunch date tomorrow and I need some rest,” Liam said at one point and Niall joined in. 

“You mind staying back and help me clean up? I’ll even drive you home later, promise.” Louis held Harry back and he simply nodded with a smile. He hugged Liam goodbye and then went on to Niall who whispered him a small “talk to him, now is your chance,” before letting him go.Harry sighed and nodded. 

As soon as they left Harry followed Louis back into the living room immediately starting to collect the empty beer bottles. 

“It was a nice evening, I really like your friends.” Louis said after a few moments of them just silently cleaning the coffee table. 

“Yeah,” Harry hummed, “Though, I think they were pretty annoyed by us.” He said with a grin, looking up at Louis. The man let out a chuckle. “I suppose they were but I can’t bring myself to care. They have to deal with that if they want to watch a movie here again.”

They walked into the kitchen and set everything down. 

“Don’t you have a dishwasher?” Harry asked when Louis started to let water into the sink plugging it in. “I do but it’s not that much and I don’t mind washing the dishes by hand. It’s calming in a way. You can dry them.” Harry grabbed a towel and stood next to Louis, taking the few dishes that they used and drying them. 

They held light conversation, talking about the movie again and Harry still felt tipsy. And maybe it was Nialls encouragement or the alcohol running through his blood or maybe it was just his own curiosity that made him ask the next question. 

“Why did you kiss me?” He blurted out, without thinking much about it. Without being able to take it back now. He knew that, when Louis stopped cleaning the dishes and put the cloth he used away, that they were gonna talk about this now. He wasn’t sure if he wanted and regretted asking. It surely was the beer. 

“What do you mean?” Louis asked, with his hip resting against the counter. 

“We- we kissed twice. Once at New Years and before that on that day with the dinner and... we never talked about them. We just- we ignored it or you ignored it... I guess. I don’t know. It’s just- this one time I guess was alright, a spur of the moment kind of thing and I was fine with just... acting like it didn’t happen, really. I was. But the second time was more intense Lou. I... I had a hickey and- I’m going crazy. Thing is, I know it’s inappropriate and wrong and that we shouldn’t do it but grit we did it twice already and... I’m confused.” He was one big stuttering mess, blushing at his words and fiddling with his hands. His breathing going flat and he felt like he didn’t get enough air. All the while, Louis just looked at him, his face showing no reaction at Harry’s words. 

“Harry, calm down. I’m not sure- I didn’t know you wanted to talk about the kissing and I wouldn’t have done it if I knew you were this uncomfortable with it, I thought you wanted it and enjoyed it, I’m sorry if I read you wrong.” He stated after a few beats of silence. 

“I wasn’t uncomfortable with it. I liked them.” Harry admitted quietly and started to bite down on his bottom lip. 

“Oh.” Harry’s eyes shot up at Louis’ blue ones and he furrowed his brows. 

“What do you mean,  _ oh _ ?” 

“Nothing really just- I didn’t knew this was stressing you so much. I also don’t understand why this stresses you so much.”

“You’re my boss, I work for you we shouldn’t do something like that.” He stated. The words he was thinking all the time. 

“Who said that?”

“Etiquette Louis! People will think bad about you if they figure out you’ve been kissing your employer. I’ve read tons of news articles, writing trash about things like that.”

“H, baby, I like you but we just kissed. So what? People won’t know and if you don’t want it, it won’t happen again. Also just because some dick writes bad stories in some magazines doesn’t mean that it’s any of his business. Stop worrying so much about it. It’s fine.” Harry heard everything Louis said. He did. But the only thing that really came through to him were the words  _ we just kissed _ and  _ it won’t happen again.  _

Harry should be happy about that. He wouldn’t have to stress about anything if Louis would just never kiss him again. 

Would, would, would. 

Wouldn’t.

What if Harry wanted to feel Louis soft lips on his again? What if Harry wanted to kiss Louis right now? What if? He didn’t do it, obviously. 

He didn’t expect Louis to confess his love for him or anything but he also wouldn’t think he was  just a kiss.  But it was for the better. It wouldn’t happen again, Harry and Louis would stay good friends. They would work together and everything would still be normal. 

Harry was glad that they talked about it, in a way because now it doesn’t hurt as much. Not that there is anything that could hurt, there is  not . Just that it does actually hurt Harry he just doesn’t want to admit that it was because of Louis that he felt that sudden lump in his throat or how dry his mouth war or how his hands were shaking. 

“You should maybe stop with the pet names then.” Harry forced himself to tease Louis because he felt like joking, was the only way of coping with this. Or alcohol but that could wait until he was alone. 

“Sure baby.” Louis winked at him and turned around to the dishes, staring to wash them again. 

Why does it feel like there are more unsaid things between them then before? Harry doesn’t understand. It was frustrating and he kind of needed space. To think. And also complain and whine about it to Niall, give him the fault for everything. 

It wasn’t awkward between them now, Harry tries to tell him safe except that it was. At least Harry felt like it was, Louis acted normal. Talking as if the past minutes never happened. 

Harry always hated confrontation and there is a reason behind that. A reason he just experienced and he couldn’t walk away right now because that would be rude and that’s not what Harry was about. At least not towards Louis. 

It’s not like Harry had a crush on Louis or was in Love.He saw them as friends, good friends actually and it just hurt that he was  just a kiss. 

Like he was just a random fling, a no one. 

And maybe, Louis hated confrontation as well because he still acted like that whole conversation never happened. Harry didn’t like that. Louis was always honest and direct and Harry appreciated that but maybe he was wrong after all. Maybe not. 

“I should go now,” Harry said as soon as they were done with cleaning everything up. 

“Oh, you can stay here if you want? I don’t mind, it’s late anyway.” Harry bit his lip, mentally weighing the pros and cons of Louis‘ offer. 

“No, it’s best if I get home. Cherry doesn’t like to be left alone for too long she’ll be mad at me if she doesn’t get her cuddles.“ Louis chuckled but nodded anyway. 

Sure Harry’s cat was very cuddly and clingy but the both knew that she would do fine one night on her one. Harry have her food and refilled her water before he left and left on the radio for her so that she had some background noise. Harry just really needed to go home. 

“You don’t have to drive me if you don’t want. I understand.” He said when they were walking down the hall and Harry started to put on his coat and beanie. 

“Not it’s fine, I want to drive you. I wouldn’t feel good with letting you walk around late at night.” Harry rolled his eyes at that. 

“I’m literally 21 and strong enough to defend me, not that anything would happen in the first place.” 

“Yeah but I feel better if I know that you got home safely besides, it’s cold and my car has heated seats.” And yeah, Harry would never say no to a heated seat. 

Louis opened the car to his garage and grabbed the key for his Jeep. They climbed into their seats and it didn’t take long for Louis to start the car. 

Harry pulled his phone out and opened the chat from him and Niall. 

_ I hate you and I blame you  _

_ What happened?  _ Came the immediate response and Harry sighed. He didn’t want to explain everything right now and especially not over text. 

_ I tell you later just know that I blame you.  _

_I still love you though_ ,  he quickly added not wanting Niall to be actually mad at him. It was just easier to blame someone else then yourself really. 

_ I know H, I love you too call me when you wanna talk about it  _

Harry locked his phone again and looked out of the window. It was still fairly cold in London and Harry was glad that he didn’t have to be outside right now. Louis stopped the car in from of Harry’s flat and Harry unbuckled himself from his seat. 

“Thanks for the drive.” He mumbled and grabbed the handle of the door. 

“You’re welcome, we’ll see each other ob Monday.“ Louis smiled at him and harry nodded before he stepped out of the car. 

“Yeah, good night.”

“Night Baby,” Louis teased and with that Harry closed the door and walked up to his flat. 

It wasn’t fair because before when Louis called him baby it felt good but now it just feels weird. Now it feels like he just does it to tease and joke. 

Harry greeted Cherry who meowed at him as soon as he stepped into his flat and she followed him into the kitchen where he turned on the kettle. The cat jumped up on the counter and stroke against Harry which made him smile. 

Thinking about it, the talk with Louis didn’t do any good. He felt like everything was out of order now and more confusing. Louis acted weird and Harry didn’t know what to do about the whole topic. 

He suddenly wasn’t as excited for Paris anymore. 

_ Are u already asleep? _

He looked down at his phone, waiting for an answer which came after two minutes of waiting. 

_ No, wanna talk? _

_ Yeah but can u come over please? _

_ Course  _

It was 15 minutes later that Niall was standing in front of Harry and the first thing he did was hug the Irish lad. 

“You’re okay Haz?” His tone was worried and Harry nodded. 

“Yeah.... no just confused. I don’t know.” He shrugged then and they walked into the living room. Harry made Niall a cup of tea and they sat down on the couch. 

Harry told Niall everything he talked with Louis about and Niall listened and furrowed his brows when Harry explained how the older man reacted. 

“s’weird. Shouldn’t he like have his shit together and know what he wants? He’s like 29.” Niall said when Harry was done and the younger boy shrugged and cuddled close to Niall. He was feeling tired. 

“I didn’t expect anything from him, I just wanted to make things clear but he just confused me more. It was like he didn’t want to talk about it.” Niall hummed and started to play with Harry’s curls. 

“He probably has his reasons H. Don’t think about it too much.” Harry didn’t say anything to that. 

“He still reacted like a dick though. He likes you a lot, I can see that so I don’t understand why he acted the way he did.” Niall said after a few moments of silence between them. 

“He’s not wrong though. They were just kisses, I’m fine with that I just didn’t like the way he formed it, it was like... I don’t know.” 

“I get it H.” 

They kind of fell asleep on the couch and woke up with their backs aching.

*

Harry was dreading to go back to work on Monday because he just knew that something in his and Louis demeanour changed and he didn’t like it. Didn’t want it and he regretted the whole time that he even started to talk about the kissing. It was dumb and know he had to life with the consequences. Awkwardness. Being unsure. It was just different. Harry didn’t like different. 

Having Niall for comfort was nice and he was sure that if he would explain everything to Liam, he would be there for him too. Niall couldn’t really help him though because he didn’t understood Louis either. 

It was a long week and Harry tried his hardest to stay out of Louis way. Louis acted like everything was still normal and Harry wondered if he noticed the change in his behaviour. 

But being Louis assistant meant that he had to spend a lot of time with him. There was no way out really. So this week felt long and exhausting and then he had to pack for Paris. Niall and Liam were both at his flat, joking and talking and laughing and it was the same as always except for the looks Niall threw at him. Silently asking him if it was really okay to fly to Paris with Louis on his birthday. He just smiled at Niall and went on with his tasks. 

He explained them everything that was to know about Cherry. Twice. And when he wanted to start for the third time they stopped him and told him they got it. 

“I want pictures. Every hour or so.” He pouted and his friends laughed. “We’ll send you pictures don’t worry. If you want we can FaceTime you on your birthday so that you can’t talk to her.” 

“I take that as a promise.” 

“Do that mate. And as soon as you’re back, we’re going to celebrate your birthday in a pub, get proper drunk.”

“Yeah sounds good.” 

They said there goodbyes and Harry locked the door when they were gone. He couldn’t sleep the whole night and decided to just stay up since he had to wake up at 4 am anyway. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so next chapter is gonna be aaaaall about Paris  
> The city of love omg  
> Because this story is written out of Harry’s perspective, we don’t know why Lou reacted the way he did and how he Feels about the whole thing  
> Just to remind you. 
> 
> PLEASE leave a comment I love them xx


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLLLLLLOO BESTIES!!! 
> 
> Okay so I basically wrote this chapter and finished it at 7.000 words.   
> But that was a little bit long so I made two out of them.   
> Don’t be mad that just means you get another chapter really soon.   
> xx

In spite of it being still fairly early in the morning, the Airport Harry stepped into was filled with people. He looked up at the big signs, that were supposed to tell him where to go. It took him some time until he figured out where his gate was and he carefully walked through the mass of people. 

Many of them were in suits and on their phone, rushing around the airport. Harry himself wore some jeans that weren’t as tight as his skinny jeans and a T-shirt with a jumper on top. His jacket was thrown over his arm. 

A glance to the time told him that he would still have enough time before his flight would start so he didn’t see the necessity in hurrying himself. He was also still mentally preparing himself for Louis. 

Harry had questions, he knew Louis probably wouldn’t answer anyway and he figured it was Louis‘ turn to speak. If he wanted to that is. 

Niall gave him a pep talk before he left. He thought it was kind of ridiculous of him but he found Nialls words were actually encouraging and it was comforting him in a way. 

The fluorescent light of the airport hurt his tired eyes but also helped to keep him awake. He knew that the flight to Paris wasn’t a long one, not even two hours but he hoped to catch up on some of his sleep. 

Harry was at his gate sooner than he hoped to be and he let his eyes wander of the heads of people who were sitting or standing around until he was met with Louis blue eyes. 

His boss hadn’t spotted him yet and Harry pondered over just hiding until their flight would be called. 

He remembered Nialls speech again ( _ there was one part were Niall was telling him that he shouldn’t let Louis know that he was affected in any way _ ) and stretched his shoulders before making his way over to Louis. 

Harry didn’t know why he was so affected by Louis anyway. They kissed twice, so what. Harry had kissed many people before without ever thinking about it again. Louis was attractive, Harry could admit that but so were many other people as well. 

Maybe it was just the way Louis reacted when Harry brought the topic up. It was dismissive and he acted like it was a mistake to kiss him in the first place but then again the first time it was Louis who initiated the kiss and he didn’t have to kiss Harry the second time. 

Harry cleared his throat once he was standing in front of Louis whose head snapped up from his phone that he was concentrated staring on. His startled face turned into a smile when he saw Harry and Harry returned it, maybe not as enthusiastic. 

“Hey H, glad you’re here.” Harry nodded and sat down next to him. He rubbed his eyes with the palm of his hands, letting out a quiet yawn. 

“Someone’s tired.” Louis chuckled and Harry shrugged his shoulders. “Couldn’t sleep well last night.” Or at all. 

Louis gave him a sympathetic smile and Harry wanted to roll his eyes. He didn’t. Louis was still acting as if they haven’t had this awkward talk, acting like he had all week. Harry was annoyed by it because he kind of had to play along if only because Louis was his boss after all. 

“Any reason?” Harry shrugged again and crossed his arms in front of his chest, sliding down in his seat. “Probably the flying it’s you third time after all. I’d be anxious as well.” 

“Maybe.“

They didn’t talk after that and Harry let his eyes slip shut, dozing off. He wasn’t really asleep but it took him some time to let the voice come through that was telling them that their flight was boarding now. 

“Harry love, wake up.” With Louis shaking his arm gently he finally opened his eyes, squinting against the bright light that was shining down on them. Harry didn’t really noticed the pet name and was too tired to say anything about it right now. He suppressed a yawn and blinked a few times, to adjust to his surroundings. Louis was standing, having his things already gathered and waiting for him. 

Harry stood up as well, putting his jacket on because he was kind of cold and tired. He grabbed his luggage and then waited for Louis to take the lead, which he eventually took. Harry followed close behind and they showed their tickets to the stewardess. It was when they were at their seats, that Harry noticed that they were flying first class. It wasn’t really necessary since their flight was fairly short but he wasn’t one to complain especially when it gave him a lot of space for his legs. 

“Wanna sit at the window?” Louis asked and Harry shrugged. “Dunno, I’ll probably be sleeping the whole time anyway so I don’t really care.” 

“Um. Then it’s probably the best if you take the window so if I need to go to the toilet or something I won’t have to climb over you or wake you up.” 

“Yeah.” 

With that Harry sat down in his seat and buckled himself in before closing his eyes once again. He was asleep before they even started the safety talk. 

*

The weather in Paris wasn’t much different from London. It was still quite cold. Harry didn’t expect anything else. 

He quietly followed Louis through the airport. He wasn’t really sure if his nap helped with the fatigue because he felt even more tired now. Louis seemed to now where they were going, easily finding his way through the people who simply went out of his way. Harry had to trail close behind or else he’d be lost in between all those people. 

His boss stopped once they were outside and Harry looked up to see a black car with a man standing in front of it, holding a sign that had Louis last name printed on it. 

“Mr Tomlinson, nice to meet you. I’ll be driving you to your hotel.” He shook Louis’ hand and then took their luggage to the trunk if the car. Harry decided not to think about the way he’s been ignored completely, too tired to care and just stepped into the car when Louis made a gesture for him to enter it. He put the seatbelt on and leaned back in his seat, leaving the small talk with the driver to Louis. 

The drive from the airport and the hotel took about half an hour and Harry just looked out of the window, taking everything in he saw. He would be probably more excited if it wasn’t for his tiredness and, well, bad mood. 

Though, his eyes widen and his mouth went a bit slack when they drive past the Eiffel Tower and shortly after that stopped at a hotel called  _Shangri-La_. It looked beautiful and way to expensive.

Before Harry knew it the door of the car was opened and he stepped out, followed by Louis. The driver grabbed their luggage and handed it to someone who- judging by what they were wearing- was apparently working there. 

He sticker close to Louis, feeling a little bit overwhelmed with the poshness of the situation. The older man gave him a smile and lead their way inside the building, walking up to the reception to check them in. 

“Here’s your room key,” Louis handed him a card and they walked to the elevator. Louis named the man that was standing there their floor, who then pressed the button for it. 

Soft music was playing in the background and Harry had to suppress another yawn. 

“Still tired?” Louis asked him quietly and Harry nodded. Louis hummed and they stepped out of the elevator when the door opened with a bing. 

“Well since the meeting will be around 1 pm I suppose you can rest for now. Make sure to set an alarm clock and you can order whatever you like, the company pays for everything.” 

Harry, of course knew their whole schedule by heart, could probably recite it while sleeping. He planned half of it after all but he just nodded along to what Louis was saying. Again, he was too tired to function right now. 

He looked down at the plastic card that was still in his hands and checked for his room number. His and Louis’ room must be close again, because they walked down the same hallway. Harry stopped when he saw the door that was having his number on it and saw Louis coming to a halt two doors from his. 

“See you later. Have a good rest.” Louis gave him a smile and a wave before stepping into his room. 

Harry held his key card against the door and opened it when a click sound came. The room was very spacious and he spotted his luggage next to the bed that was facing a giant window wall. When he turned to it, his eyes grew big when he saw that his room was facing the Eiffel Tower. 

Harry pulled his phone out, and took a few pictures before, closing the curtains to darken the room. 

No matter how tired he was, he couldn’t sleep with so much light shining through the window even if it was sad to shut out the beautiful view. 

He set his alarm clock and stripped out of his clothes before falling into the soft sheets. It didn’t took him long until he was out like a light. 

*

Harry was smart enough to set his alarm clock early enough, that he still had enough time to take a long and hot shower and wash away the feeling of the flight and the rest of the tiredness. 

The letter didn’t really work because he just felt overall exhausted but at least he was clean now. 

He dried himself with a towel and slipped into one of the bathrobes the hotel offered. It was surprisingly soft and felt cozy against his skin. 

He looked at the menu card and decided to go with a small snack since he haven’t had any breakfast yet. 

Harry looked around the room some more, while he waited for his food to arrive and started to plan his outfit for the meeting they would attend later. He turned the tv on, not liking the quietness and let friends run in the background. A knock on his door could be heard and he opened it to a tray with his food. He tipped the waiter who brought him the food and then walked over to the bed, starting to munch on the french pastries he ordered. He really could go for some wine as well but that had to wait until later. 

Once he was done with eating, he put on the dark blue dress pants, along with a white button down, where he left the first few buttons unbuttoned and a fitting blue blazer on top. 

He brushed his hair, which has become quiet long by now- almost falling to his shoulders-and thought about maybe getting a cut soon. Once his curls were untangled he stepped in some shoes and took a look at his watch. He smiled at himself when he saw that he was perfectly in time and grabbed his few belongings before stepping out of his room. 

He turned around when he heard the clicking sound of another door closing and saw Louis stepping out of his room, dressed in a similar outfit but a dark grey, Harry was sure would compliment his blue eyes. 

“Ah, you’re ready, was afraid I had to wake you up and we would be too late.” Louis joked when he spotted Harry and he had to contain an eye roll. 

He knew that this was important for Louis and his company and it was also his job. He wouldn’t dare be late. 

“Good thing you didn’t have to then.” He replied and Louis gave a shrug with his shoulders. 

They walked to the elevators and Louis paced in front of them while they waited. Harry followed his moves with his eyes but stayed still at his place. 

“Are you still tired?” Louis asked, not stopping in his movements but looking up at Harry. 

“Erm no, I guess not. Just a bit exhausted but it’s alright.” Louis nodded and quickly turned around when one of the elevators opened. 

Harry stepped in after him and leaned against one of the walls, watching Louis fidget around nervously. 

Once outside they were met with a car and the same driver that picked them up from the airport. The back door was opened for them and shortly after that they were driving to the company. 

Louis’ leg was shaking next to Harry’s and the older man started to chew on his nails. Harry tried to ignore it, in the beginning but it was starting to stress him out and he knew Louis needed to have a clear head for this. 

“Lou,” he started, the nickname sounding unfamiliar in his mouth right now. A few beats passed and Louis turned around to Harry. 

“You’re nervous.” He stated the obvious which made Louis huff and scowl at him. 

“I know this is important to you, but you’re good with this kind of stuff, yeah? You’re good at talking to people and they’ll love you and you’re going to get the deal. Don’t worry so much and focus.” It wasn’t much but it seemed to help the older man who’s features slightly softened. 

“I could really use a cigarette right now.” Louis said and Harry smiled at that. “Then have one. Before we go in. It’ll help yeah? Calm you down a bit.” 

“I really want this deal H.” He admitted and looked out of the window again. 

“You’re going to get it, I’m sure.” Harry noticed how bad he was at comforting other people and he asked himself if it always was this awkward or if it was just with Louis. Still, his words seemed to help Louis who nodded and let out a “thank you.”

Once they arrived at the company the door was opened for them and before he knew it louis was already lighting a cigarette. Harry awkwardly waited next to Louis, who thankfully made sure the smoke wouldn’t hit Harry. Every drag of it seemed to calm Louis down more and he closed his eyes, sorting his thoughts. 

“Okay, I’m ready.” He threw the cigarette away and they stepped into the building were they were already greeted. 

“Mr Tomlinson, Mr Styles. My pleasure to meet you, I’m Tessa and Mr Moreau’s assistant, if you’d follow me please.” A young woman came up to them, around Harry’s age and smiled brightly at them. While she guided them through the building she told them different facts about the company and for what they stand. Her English was pretty decent and the french accent sounded endearing. 

Harry listened half heartedly but tried to smile and nod along. He felt in a weird way connected to Tessa, maybe because they were around the same age and had the same job. 

She stopped once they were standing in front of a conference room and cleared her throat before knocking and walking in. 

“Mr Moreau, Mr Tomlinson is here now.” A man who looked like he was in his late thirties stood up and walked up to them. 

They shook their hands and exchanged greetings with each other.After some time thesmall talk they had died and they were sat down.The meeting started. 

Harry kept quiet and just took notes, knowing that Louis liked to look over them again and again. And also because most of the time his boss forget half of the things that were being said but Harry doubted that that was happening at such an important meeting but better safe than sorry. 

Harry found that this meeting was very interesting, different than many others he already attended and that many good ideas, that would be beneficial for both their companies were exchanged. 

Louis listened to the presentation that was held in the beginning and didn’t shy away from sharing his opinion to the room. His directness was often unappreciated but Mr Moreau and the other people, from who Harry couldn’t remember their name seemed to like it. 

In the end, Mr Moreau handed Louis a big pile of papers. 

“My assistant reserved a table at an excellent restaurant for tonight. If you’ve decided by then, bring these papers signed back.“ 

So they had a few hours to decide wether they would agree to the deal or not. 

*

They were currently in Louis room, with Harry sitting in one of the arm chairs and Louis pacing around in front of the mirror. 

“Read the negatives again.” He ordered and Harry searched through his notes, starting to tell them Louis once he found them. 

There weren’t a lot really but it was the third time of Harry telling them to Louis now. 

“Louis, you wanted the deal. It’s good for your company you’ll grow even bigger, you can expend even more.” Louis came to a stop, still facing the window, his back to Harry. 

“I know, I just don’t want to rush things. Read the positives again.” Harry sighed but did what Louis wanted and listed all the positive things that would come with this deal. 

“You would do it right?” Louis turned around to Harry. He looked uncertain. 

“Yeah, I would but you know what you’re doing so take your time.” Louis let out a dry snort and nodded. 

“I don’t have time, ‘s the thing.” That was partly true. They had two hours time to decide before someone would pick them up for the dinner. 

“I’ll do it. The positive outweighs the negative and I really wanted this. Don’t know why I’m so hesitant right now.” Louis grabbed Harry’s pen and opened the first page of the contract. 

He knew what was standing in there, this contract was discussed a few weeks prior and his lawyers already looked over it to make sure there was everything alright. 

Harry silently watched him scribble his signature on every paper that was marked with a post it. 

It took some time but once he was done a wide and happy smile was spread across his face. 

He stood up and pulled out two champagne glasses of one of the cupboards as well as a champagne bottle out of the mini fridge. 

He poured the glasses and walked over to Harry who smiled at him. 

“To the future,” Harry mumbled as he clinked his glass with Louis’. “Cheers!”

*

It was an expensive restaurant and Harry felt out of place. He still plastered on a smile, though it wasn’t as fake as he thought it was once he saw how happy Louis was. 

They followed a waitress to their table where Mr Moreau and Tessa were already sitting but standing up once they saw Harry and Louis approach them. 

Harry had to concentrate on his walking and he scolded Louis for opening the champagne. Because one glass turned to two glasses, turned to three. Harry was tipsy and Louis maybe too. He couldn’t tell because the older man could hold himself together way better than Harry. 

“Well, I think we should order some champagne.” Mr Moreau smiled when Louis handed him the contract. “I’m very honoured to work with you Mr Tomlinson.” 

“It’s a pleasure and I think we can go with first names.” Louis offered which Mr Moreau agreed to with a smile and a nod. He ordered them champagne and they clinked their glasses together. 

Harry looked over the menu, trying to decipher what the different french words meant and what meal was behind them. 

He gave up eventually and decided to go with something that had spaghetti in it, thinking this would be a safe choice. He couldn’t think of a time where he ordered something with spaghetti in it that didn’t taste good. 

They ordered their food and quickly fell into a conversation. Harry was sitting next to Louis, across from Tessa who gave a few comments here and there. 

Their food arrived and Harry was happy to see that his food looked delicious. It seemed to be some kind of salmon pasta with a cream sauce. They ordered wine to go with their meals and Harry felt the alcohol in his blood already. 

It wasn’t fair, really. That he good drunk this fast. 

With that, it wasn’t a surprise that by the end of their dinner he was, what could be considered drunk. He seemed to hide it pretty well though because neither Mr Moreau nor Tessa seemed to notice but Louis did. Because of course. 

They said there goodbyes, agreeing upon meeting tomorrow again to go over the last few things and then separate. 

Harry felt relieved that he didn’t have to concentrate on acting sober anymore and could be his drunk self. 

He felt happy in this moment, the alcohol had pushed all his worrying in the back of his head and he felt giddy. 

Louis pulled out a cigarette and watched Harry, who was smiling at nothing. 

“Lou, let’s go explore the city!” Harry grinned at Louis, trying his best to coax him. 

“No H, you’re drunk.” Harry’s lips formed a pout and he walked closer to Louis who watched him, cigarette in his hands. 

“C’mon Lou! Don’t be boring. It’s gonna be fun.” 

“You’re drunk, which- you should know better Harry. This was a business dinner and you get drunk. I could fire you for something like that y’know?” Louis was mad. Harry frowned. 

“What do you mean?” He asked, standing up straight. 

“That you got drunk like a teenager at an important dinner.” 

“I don’t understand. Why do you care so much suddenly?” 

“Because you sometimes get into these weird moods when you’re drunk and you can’t control them Harry.” 

“You’re being an arse.” Harry sniffles, tears burning in his eyes suddenly. 

“I know, but it’s the truth. Your behaviour was inappropriate and you know that.” 

“So what? You’re going to fire me now?” Harry stepped closer to Louis. 

“No H, of course not. C’mon now, let’s get back to the hotel.” Louis made an attempt to wrap his arm around Harry’s waist but he stepped to the side. 

“No, don’t wanna. I’m gonna walk around. Explore the city in my own.” 

“No you’re not! I’m not letting you walk around, alone in a city you’ve never been in. Especially not at night.” 

“Guess you have to tag along then.” Louis let out a breath at that but stomped his cigarette out. 

“Guess so.” He muttered and Harry smirked to himself. God, he was so angry at Louis right now but he still got his way and that was all that mattered in this moment. 

They held eye contact until Harry rolled his eyes and turned around. 

“I want to see the Eiffel Tower. And we should pick up a bottle of wine on the way. Y’know keep it fun.” Harry pulled his phone out and opened the maps app, looking for the fastest way they could get to his destination. 

“Oh, it’s not that far and there are multiple shops we can stop by to get some wine.” He smiled at Louis. His sight was a bit blurry. The older man didn’t say anything just started to follow Harry. 

They did stop at a small shop and bought a cheap bottle of wine, and Louis made sure to pick one that wasn’t as strong which Harry commented with a pout. 

Once they stepped out of the shop, Louis opened the bottle and drowned one quarter of it on the spot.

Oh. 

“Oh.” 

Harry watched but didn’t say anything, just took his own sip when Louis handed him the bottle. 

They could already see the Eiffel Tower and Harry put his phone away, deciding that they could follow their instincts now. 

“It’s beautiful.” They came to a stop and it’s not like they haven’t already seen the tall tower but it was still different when standing right in front of it. Harry tilted his head back, the lights of the tower reflecting in his eyes. 

“Yeah it is.” Louis said, but instead of looking at the tower, he was looking directly at Harry. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are going to get spicy...
> 
> Leave a comment and tell me what you think xx


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: alcohol, smut

Harry stumbled behind Louis, trying to keep up with the large steps the older man was doing in this moment. They did buy another bottle of wine and if Harry wasn’t drunk before, now he definitely was. 

He giggled when he tripped over his feet once more, his hand reaching out to steady himself on Louis. 

“Alright?” Louis asked, his hand grabbing Harry’s arm and stopping them. 

“Everything’s moving.” Harry frowned with a pout and Louis chuckled. “That’s probably you.” Louis easily leaned Harry against the wall which actually helped with his dizziness. 

Harry closed his eyes, trying to fight his tiredness and drunkness when his phone began to ring. He searched for his in his pockets until he finally found it. “Oh, that’s Niall.” 

He pushed the green button and held his phone to his ear, just to hold it away again when he heard “happy birthday,” being screamed into his phone by his friends. 

Harry scrunched his face and watched Louis peak up, who probably could hear them as well. He waited a few seconds until the screaming subsided and pressed the phone to his ear. 

“Thanks lads,” he mumbled, dimples popping out and all. 

“Our babies growing up!” Niall fake whined, making him chuckle and roll his eyes when he heard Liam agree to that. 

“Still more mature than you and Li.” It was something he liked to believe because his friends didn’t shy away from babying him, loving how Harry often hated it and teasing him with it. 

“Are you alright H? You sound weird!” Liam asked, his voice tinted with worry. “Yeah, m’alright.” Harry words were slurred and mumbled. 

Liam and Niall suddenly started a discussion about that and he rolled his eyes, too drunk to concentrate on that right now. He looked up again at Louis, whose eyes were already on him and he blushed slightly at that. 

Louis had a smirk on his face, revealing that he was probably hearing everything that was said to him. 

When Harry catches up on the words ‘ill’ and ‘hospital’ he decided to interrupt his friends. “Guys, m’alright, just a little bit tipsy.” Louis huffed and tilted his head, silently telling him that he was more than just tipsy. Liam and Niall were quiet. 

“Is Louis with you?” Niall asked and he hummed, his eyes still on Louis. “Okay, we love you and we’ll gotout once you’re back. Don’t do anything stupid!” They called with a chuckle, making him roll his eyes once again. Before he could’ve answered his friends they’ve already hung up. 

“Why didn’t you tell me that it’s your birthday?” Louis asked him, making Harry look up from his phone. 

“Dunno, didn’t matter I guess? ‘s really not that important.” 

“It’s your 22 ‘course it matters!” Louis disagreed making Harry shrug his shoulders. “We’re gonna celebrate tomorrow, I’ll take you out for dinner or something.” 

“I don’t- it’s alright, we don’t have to do anything.” The thing is, Harry would love to spend more time with Louis, aches for it because things have changed and it wasn’t like before. But because of things not being like they were before it was probably for the best if they wouldn’t go out for dinner. It’d be wrong and confusing. 

Harry pushed himself off the wall and started to walk towards their rooms with Louis by his side. “Please? It’s just dinner Harry. It’s gonna be fun!” 

“It really is okay Louis. No need to do anything really.” He shrugged it off, making Louis roll his eyes just to smirk then at him. “Remember when we were in New York?” Harry was a bit confused by the question but answered when Louis didn’t start talking again. “Uh... of course, yeah.” 

“Yeah and remember how I wanted to eat with you at Thai restaurant and you were being all fuzzy and throwing a fit because it was too expensive?” Harry frowned but nodded, “Yeah, you kind of forced me into it.” 

“Did not.”

“You’d said you fire me if I wouldn’t go with you. That’s kind of blackmailing.”

“It’s not. Anyway, you said you wanted to repay me somehow and this is how; let me take you out for dinner. For your birthday.” Louis smiled at him. They were already at Harry’s door. 

“That’s like... it doesn’t make sense. I can’t pay you back for dinner by letting you take me out to eat. It’s- that’s not how it works Louis. Honestly, I’m surprised you’ve made it this far in your job because you’ve made some poor choices around me. Like. I don’t think I’ve ever payed for anything around you.” 

“Okay, now you’re being just rude. Besides it’s my money, I can do with it what I want. And I want to spend it on you. So will you go out with me tomorrow?” Harry rolled his eyes but nodded then, even though it did sound a lot like an invitation to a date. 

“Great, I’ll see you tomorrow..” 

“Yeah, goodnight.” There was an awkward moment of silence where they just stared at each other until Harry reached into his pocket for his key card and Louis turned around to go to his own room. 

Honestly, everything was such a big mess right now and Harry wasn’t sure if it would ever clear up. 

He considered calling Niall and Liam again, once he made it inside and felt like he could breathe again. He decided against ranting about everything to his friends though, telling himself that he was old enough to deal with his problems on his own. 

*

He spent most of the day on the hotel room, only getting one message from Louis to tell him when he should be ready which brings us to Harry trying on every shirt he brought with him because he didn’t know what to wear. 

He did decide to go with his usual black skinny jeans and a white shirt that had some kind of black leaves on it. He left it unbuttoned to his butterfly tattoo and eyed himself in the mirror. 

Harry thought he looked alright with his hair styled in a nice way. He scrunched his nose at himself before grabbing his boots and putting them one before checking the clock. He quickly scurried to his bathroom and put on some perfume when a knock was heard on his door. 

Harry grabbed his phone and a coat and opened the door to flowers. 

And here’s the thing, Harry thought Louis made sure that there wasn’t going anything on between them. He had set his boundaries and Harry was okay with that. Well he though he was. Nevertheless he still didn’t understand why Louis would make such an effort. This sure as hell felt like a Date. 

Harry smiled when Louis face came up behind the bouquet and mumbled a "thanks,“ when Louis handed it to him. “Happy birthday love.” 

They stood like that for a few moments, Harry looking at the beautiful flower arrangement and Louis watching Harry until the latter came to his senses. 

“Right, I should put these in some water.” Harry made a gesture with the bouquet and Louis nodded. Harry searched around the room, hoping that Louis didn’t see how messy it was and just grabbed a glass that he quickly filled with water and setting it on the night table. 

“All ready to go?” Louis asked once Harry was standing in front of him and he nodded, grabbing his key card and closing the door behind them. 

“Where’re we going?” Harry asked as soon as they stepped into the elevator. 

“Oi, be patient, already told ya we were going for dinner.” Louis chuckled, giving Harry time to really look at him. He was wearing suit pants and a shirt, with the sleeves rolled up and the first few button undone. It looked effortless and.  Good . And many other things Harry wouldn’t let his mind wander off to. 

“You probably wouldn’t even know it when I would tell you the name anyway.” Louis explained when he saw Harry’s pout, making him just increasing it more. They walked up to a car, the door being opened for them, something Harry still wasn’t used to and probably never will be. 

It was a short ride, they probably were fine walking it but Harry didn’t say anything, just listened to Louis telling him what he did the day and looking out of the window. 

The place was posh. Very posh and Harry thought he could even spot a celebrity or something. They were led to a table and Harry blushed when Louis pulled the chair back for him. 

The view they had, was breathtaking with the Eiffel Tower basically right in front of them and the sun setting over Paris. It was. Romantic. Really romantic and Harry’s blush just got brighter, his lips curling into a shy smile. 

Louis ordered them wine and explained that he already ordered a course menu. 

“You really didn’t have to do all that y’know? I’d be fine with pizza and beer. Well maybe not necessarily beer put you get the point.” Harry said earnest after they clinked their glasses together. 

“I know that H, that’s the reason I wanted to take you out. Well one of them.” Harry furrowed his brows but didn’t say anything. “You don’t care. ‘s what im saying. And thats,” Louis paused, looking out of the window before looking back at Harry as he sorted his thoughts, ”let’s say rare.”

Harry couldn’t even answer when he wanted to because they were interrupted by a waiter bringing them their first meal. 

They kept their conversation light, pretending that there wasn’t a mountain of unsaid things between them. Or at least that was what Harry did, he obviously couldn’t speak for the man in front of him. 

The food was delicious, Harry felt like he was in heaven and the atmosphere was beautiful. The sky was painted in nice pink and orange colours that went just slightly ignored by Harry who was a little bit to mesmerised in the way Louis’ eyes were sparkling in the light. 

Harry got more restless with every second because it felt more and more like a date and he wasn’t sure how to feel about that. They were talking about families know and Harry felt like they were overstepping a line. 

Louis happily told him all about his sisters and mom and sure Harry knew them, had even talked to Lottie in person and she followed him in Instagram but this was different. 

Harry changed the topic once they came to his mom, not wanting to ruin the mood they were in and settled on talking about his childhood. 

This was how they made their way through the evening, chatting and eating and drinking wine. 

The bill was presented to Louis who took it and put his card into it. 

“Let me see.” Harry sat up straighter, trying to get a glance and the price. “No. It’s on me, it’s your birthday dinner.” 

“Yeah but I want to know how much it was just to know how much I owe you.” Louis rolled his eyes but still didn’t let him see the bill. “You don’t owe me anything Harold.” He payed, ignoring the way Harry was pouting and they emptied the rest of their glasses before making their way out of the restaurant. 

The cold air was making Harry aware that he was already slightly tipsy and it felt good on his hot skin. 

“Thank you Louis.” He turned to his boss with a smile and contemplated hugging him for a second but then decided against it. 

“For what?” He asked, a smug smile on his face that made Harry roll his eyes. “You know for what.” Louis hummed with a shrug and let them to the car. 

“Can’t we walk? The hotel isn’t that far away.” Harry asked making Louis halt in his movements. 

“Course we can babe.” Louis handed something to the driver who nodded and got into the car to drive away while Louis walked back to Harry who was still not over the pet name. Louis did use a lot of pet names, and Harry thought maybe it was just a British thing and he was fine with it. He was. Until Louis declared that they should not overstep their Boundaries. 

They slowly started their walk, content with not saying anything for a while. Their footsteps the only thing that can be heard. Harry felt how his mind cleared up a bit because of the fresh air and inhaled it deeply. 

It really wasn’t a long walk and Harry kind of wished they could walk some more but he just followed Louis. 

“I’m gonna be honest, I didn’t really plan anything else for today. Sorry.” Louis smiled apologetically and Harry shook his head. 

“You don’t have to be sorry, I didn’t expect anything really- which would’ve been fine as well, don’t get me wrong... but- thank you.” 

“You’re welcome.” Louis‘ smile turned brighter, making Harry return it when his eyes catches a glimpse of the bar. 

“C’mon, we can drink something at the bar.” He tugged at Louis arm, the older man following him easily without complaints until they were standing in front of the barkeeper. 

Harry was two vodka sodas in when he spoke what’s been bugging him the whole evening. 

“This felt like a date tonight.” 

Louis, who was two and a half whiskeys in looked up and nodded. “Yeah it did.” 

It wasn’t what Harry was hoping for as an answer but he nodded and took another sip. 

“And you don’t have a problem with that?”

Louis took another sip as well, gesturing for the barkeeper to make them another round. “No, I don’t. Do you?” 

Harry was taken aback by this question and his drunken mind didn’t really no whether to tell the truth or not. 

“Yeah, I did kind of...Maybe.” He drowned the rest of the glass and started in the third one. 

“That- I don’t understand.”

“I don’t either. Was it a Date?”

“Did you want it to be a date?” Louis asked back, making Harry roll his eyes and then giggle. 

“You can’t answer a question with a question Lou. That’s not how this works.” 

“Says who?” 

They were both way to drunk when they stumbled out of the elevator and down their floor to their doors. 

They were way to drunk to stop each other when Louis pressed Harry against the wall ne to to his door and pressed his lips against Harrys. 

Harry just closed his eyes and moved his lips against Louis, tasting the whiskey in his mouth when their tongues meet. 

It was an filthy and uncoordinated drunk kiss, mouths wide open and tongues licking into each other’s mouth harshly. 

Harry tilted his head to the side, whimpering when Louis’ lips attached to the sensitive spot below his jaw and he started to suck a bruise into it. 

Harry was already sporting a semi in his pants when Louis pressed his left leg between Harry’s, giving his cock some kind of friction but not nearly enough. He wanted more, more, more. 

“Look so good today baby.” Louis whispered hotly in his ear, making Harry’s hips buck forward and part his lips in a soft moan. 

“ _Lou_. ” With that their lips were attached again, Louis’ hands around Harry’s waist and Harry’s hands finding their way up to Louis’ face, gently cupping it. 

“Fuck me.” Harry panted out between their kisses and Louis nodded eagerly. 

“You want that baby?” Louis slurred out making Harry nod  yes , as he searched for his key card. He smiled to himself once he found it and held it to the door. 

They stumbled through the door without disconnecting their lips, making it way harder to walk in their drunken haze. It was dark, the only light that was coming through was from outside but you could hardly see anything. 

They didn’t thought about the consequences this would have when they undid each other’s shirts, letting them fall to the floor. Louis‘ started to trace a line of kisses down Harry throat, to his collar bones where he started to suck. Harry felt weak in his knees at the sensation of Louis‘ mouth on his and he let out a moan while his hands found the buckle of Louis belt. 

“You’re so hot.” Louis breathed against his skin, leaving it damp and with goosebumps, his nipples hardening. 

Harry’s legs hit the bed frame, and Louis urged him further until he fell down on it with a bounce. They both giggled at that, locking eyes with drunken smiles. They pushed all of Harry’s clothes that were still laying on top of the bed down on the floor. 

Louis adjusted himself on top of Harry, straddling his hips. Harry watched his movements, smile still plastered on his face and he leaned up a bit, plucking his lips. Louis caught up with him and leaned down, going tongue first into the kiss, licking around his mouth and grinding his cock over Harry’s who was still in his pants. Louis worked his way down Harry’s body, kissing along his tattoos and sucking on his nipples. Harry gasped at that sensation, goosebumps rising on his chest. He’s always been sensitive at his nipples and Louis seemed to be a quick learner, scraping his teeth over them or sucking them in until they were even more hard and swollen. 

Harry couldn’t contain his moans and whimpers, didn’t have to.The older man kissed his way to Harry’s cock, opening his belt and the button on them before pulling them down off his legs. Louis pants following quickly. 

Harry hissed at the cold air that was grazing his cock now, eyes closed and hands fisting the sheets. 

“Look so beautiful H.” Louis mumbled, his eyes wandering over his body, until he locked them with Harry who gave him a grin. 

Louis moved his hand to Harry’s cock, giving him a few pumps with his hand, working him to full hardness. Harry started to buck his hips up, fucking himself into Louis tight grip that was giving him the perfect friction. His back arched of the bed when Louis thumb pressed down into his slit and he let out a whimpering sound. 

“Gonna fuck you so good, baby,” Louis leaned down again, kissing all over Harry’s face until he connected their lips again. “Yes, please.” 

“Fuck, okay, got lube babe?” Louis asked impatiently and honestly Harry felt the same, wanting nothing more then for Louis to fuck him. “Bottom drawer.” He mumbled out. 

Louis climbed off of him and stretched himself to reach the bottom drawer, picking out the banana flavoured lube. 

“Really?” He cocked an eyebrow holding the plastic package up and Harry shrugged his shoulders. “Love me some banana.”

“Oh I’m sure you do love,” Louis rolled his eyes teasingly and Harry pouted. “It’s disgusting babe. But, it’ll do.” He opened the bottle and squirted a generous amount of it on his fingers. 

“How do you want it?” Louis asked, looking back at Harry who was watching everything. He didn’t care really so he just shrugged with his shoulders. 

“Okay... hands and knees then?” Louis suggested and Harry quickly got into position. 

“Someone’s eager,” Louis chuckled and Harry glared at him. 

“Patience baby.” He mumbledand pinched Harry’s hips, making him jerk forward and moan. 

“Oi. You like that? Harry styles has a pain kink.”Louis chuckled and Harry let out an annoyed sound. 

“Harry Styles does not-“ he couldn’t finish his sentence when he felt Louis finger against his rim, pushing in and out at a fast pace. It burned a bit but Harry loved the feeling of it. 

“It’s alright love, just admit it.” Louis prodded his finger in and out at a quicker pasted now, having Harry panting and moaning under him. Small ‘ ahs ’ and ‘ ohs ’ left Harry’s mouth when Louis added another finger, working them in and out of Harry’s whole and scissoring them. It was a stretch to scissor them so soon, giving Harry little time to adjust and his arms gave up under him at the pleasurable feeling of Louis fingers. 

Even if he’d have a pain kink, he’d never admit it to Louis. 

He tilted his head to the side, so that he was still able to breathe, his eyes rolling back when Louis added the third finger. It wasn’t that he never fingered himself, it was just so much better when someone else did it because doing it yourself was always hard and you never had the right angle. 

“Fuck H, you’re so tight.” Louis hit Harry’s prostate at that, making Harry arch his back further and starting to fuck himself on Louis fingers. Precum was dribbling out of his cock and down on the duvet. 

“‘m ready Lou.” He mumbled after a few more moments and Louis hand stopped. 

“You’re sure?” Harry nodded at that eagerly and Louis leaned forward so that he could kiss him again. 

“Okay,” Harry heard the sound of a condom being opened and then how Louis opened the lube bottle and squirted more out. 

“ Lou ,” Harry growled when he felt his tip against his rim, teasingly rubbing against it but not going past it. And then Louis slides in, hitching Harry’s breath. 

“Fuck Lou!” Harry cried out his hole adjusting to the stretch. Louis took his time to bottom out but once he did he stopped his movements, giving them both enough time to adjust. 

“Feel so good Haz.” He pressed his lips to Harry’s shoulder blade, staying there a few moments. 

Eventually Harry nodded and Louis started to move. He pulled out until only his tip was in Harry and then slowly pushed back in, repeating this movement. 

It was torturous how slow he moved and Harry started to whine and whimper under him, trying to fuck himself back on Louis to fasten the movements. 

“Lou, harder please.” Louis immediately obliged, chasing his high as well as he started to speed up his trust, occasionally hitting Harry’s prostate. Both man were moaning and panting. 

Louis altered between long and hard and fast and short thrust- it was impressive considering how drunk he still was- and had Harry whining under him. Tears were falling out of his eyes at all the pleasure and his mouth was slack at this point. 

“Gonna cum Lou.” He panted out biting his bottom lip when Louis wrapped a hand around his cock and moved it in the same rhythm as his thrust. 

It only took a few strokes until Harry’s cum spurted out of him, almost screaming Louis name and clenching around him. 

Louis fucked him through his orgasm and let go of his cock when the last wave had hit him. 

It only took a few thrust for the older man until he came and collapsed on top of Harry. 

He placed a few soft kisses in the crook of Harry’s neck before gently pulling out and disposing the used condom. 

Harry whined at the sudden emptiness, his hole clenching around nothing. They were both exhausted, collapsing into the sheets and falling asleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello besties!!  
> I am alive and I know I promised this one wayyyyy sooner so I’m sorry but I really struggle with many things right now and school’s also a lot and yeah...  
> but I managed to finish this chapter so yeah.  
> There’s going to be a lot of drama baby!
> 
> Let me know what you think and take care of yourself please! It’s important! Love you xx


	18. Chapter 18

Harry woke up with his head hanging over the toilet getting rid of everything his stomach contained. 

Well not really. He woke up with Louis holding him against his chest, his face buried in Harry’s neck and his breath grazing over Harry’s skin but. It felt good. Warm. Then came everything back that happened last night. But Harry chose to ignore that. He also chose to ignorehow he was all sticky with cum and naked. Or how Louis was his boss. 

So he decided to settle for the toilet as the place he woke up at and act like he didn’t got drunk last night and had sex with his boss. 

Because _Jesus Christ, Harry and Louis got drunk last night and had sex._

But dammit, from what he remembered it was good. Really good.

Once it felt safe enough to stand up from where he was perched on the floor without having to immediately gag more he walked over to the sink. His movements where slow when he grabbed his toothbrush and squirted toothpaste on it, in hopes to get rid of the foul taste in his mouth. He probably spend more time brushing his teeth than ever before and used his mouthwash twice before deeming it as okay. He grabbed a washcloth and gently scrubbed away the dried cum on his stomach and thighs. 

Harry put on a rope, the only clothing article he could find right now because he didn’t want to go nude when Louis may be awake and could see him. It felt inappropriate. He opened the door quietly and took in this mess of a hotel room. Everywhere were clothes and the lube that they used was laying on the floor next to the bed. The bed, that contained Louis. 

Harry started to chew on his lip, contemplating whether he should wake Louis up or not. They did have a flight to catch at 11 am but Harry wasn’t even sure what time it was right now. They could’ve already missed it for what he knows. 

He tried to make out his phone between all of the clothes, not remembering where he had it last. He also had a headache and he was really tired. 

“How long are you gonna stand there?” Harry was startled at the husky voice, coming from his bed, his head shot up. “What?” His voice cracked and was sore. 

Louis sat himself up, rubbing his eyes and squinting against the bright light that was shining through the windows. 

“What’re ya even doing here?” He questioned then, making Harry look at him confused. 

“Uhm I-“

“ _ Oh fuck _ .” Louis threw his head around, eyes wide as he looked at Harry. “Yeah.” Harry breathed out, feeling uncomfortable. He didn’t dare look into Louis eyes, the word mistake was written all over him. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” the older man breathed out, standing up quickly and starting to search for something. “Where the bloody hell are my clothes!” Louis sounded pissed as he searched through all the clothes that were scattered around the floor. Harry pressed himself against the bathroom door, his eyes locked with the ceiling. 

He heard some ruffling and then the sound of a zipper being pulled up. Harry allowed himself to look down again. Louis was just in his pants now, his torso still naked as he looked down on his phone. 

“Can’t find me shirt. Our flight leaves at 11 so... be punctual.” Louis darted out of the room, leaving Harry with his mouth wide open as the door closed with a loud thud. The sound made Harry jump and he blinked a few times. 

He pulled his suitcase out under the bed and made a quick job at throwing his clothes in it. He didn’t care that they’d be all crumbled he just needed to do  _ something _ before he started to freak out. 

He couldn’t- didn’t  _ allow _ himself to freak out just yet. 

He found his phone in the process of cleaning the room and saw that he had only 45 more minutes before he’d have to leave the room. He quickly texted Niall and Liam, telling them to wait for him at his flat with food. They didn’t ask any questions, just started a debate over what they were going to get. Harry proceeded to go fish packing and took a quick shower when he saw that he had still time for it. 

He threw on some joggers and a jumper and then took off the sheets of the bed, when he saw the cum stains on it. He also put some money on the desk as a ‘ _sorry_ ’ for whoever had to clean them. 

He grabbed the flowers, that were still standing on the desk and mocking him. For his naivety and his dumbness. He threw them away. Together with the banana lube. 

Harry pressed his ear to the door and waited. When he didn’t heard anything he opened the door and quickly scurried over to the elevators, his suitcase clutched in his hand. He pressed the button a few times, getting impatient when it didn’t open immediately. He just really didn’t want to see Louis right now and he was scared that the older man would walk around the corner any second. 

He didn’t. Harry was alone in the elevator and Louis wasn’t there when Harry gave his keycard back to the girl at the reception. 

He walked out of the hotel, where he was met by the same driver that picked them up from the airport. The man immediately grabbed Harry’s suitcase and opened the door for him. He muttered out a quiet ' _thanks_ ‘ before he stepped into the car. The man nodded once and closed the door behind him. 

The quietness of the car was getting up to Harry. It was the the first moment where he didn’t occupy himself with anything since he woke up and it dammed him that he would have to spend at least thirty minutes with Louis in the car and then about two hours with Louis on a flight. Alone. 

He anxiously started to play with the rings on his fingers, twisting and turning them around or pulling them off his finger. 

They waited for about 5 minutes when suddenly the car started to move. Harry looked up from his hands, brows furrowed in confusion his mouth slightly open. It took him a few blinks to refrain his voice and he cleared his throat. 

“Uhm sir? We need to wait for Mr Tomlinson. He’s still at the hotel!” 

“Mr Tomlinson send me a message, saying that he needed to stay longer because something came up work wise. He told me to bring you to the airport.” 

_Oh_ . 

“Oh.” Harry breathed out and leaned back in his seat, “thank you, I guess.” It was not more than a mutter but the driver nodded and focused on the road again, leaving Harry with his thoughts. 

Harry’s thoughts jumped through every moment he spend with Louis, every time they laughed together, every time Louis made Harry feel safe. Because he did. More so than Harry liked to admit, actually. But he couldn’t stop from asking himself where he went wrong. What was the moment, Louis decided to not like him anymore? 

Harry thought back to the conversation they had at Louis‘ place. From there it started to spiral downwards. Everything they had, which was nothing more than a good friendship and two kisses shared between them. 

Harry didn’t understand Louis. Or himself. Neither did he understand the situation he was in and how it could’ve even go so far to them having sex. Harry kind of wished all of that never happened. The kisses, the sex. 

Because seeing the regretful face of Louis this morning hurt. As much as he hated to admit it, but it did. 

They arrived at the airport, the driver gave Harry his luggage and drove off again, leaving Harry to himself. 

He clutched his bag tightly and walked through the airport, focusing on finding the right gate. 

Once he was checked in, he didn’t habe to wait long for his flight being called for departure. The empty seat next to his was just another reminder that Louis left him alone. 

Harry wasn’t sure if he should think off Louis badly for leaving him alone or not. Because, if he was being honest he didn’t know what to doing Louis would be standing in front of him right now. Would they argue or just stay quiet and ignore each other. So it probably was for the better that they weren’t together right now. It still hurt though. 

He didn’t allow himself to cry yet. Not in front of all these people, not if there really wasn’t a reason. He should stop acting like a child, really. 

The flight was short and Harry didn’t rush himself when he walked off the plane. He gathered his things and was once again thankful that he didn’t have to wait for his Luggage and could just walk out of the airport. 

He didn’t come far though because suddenly there was a voice calling his name loudly. Startled he turned around to see his two best friends walking towards them. 

“What’re you guys doing here?” He asked, voice quivering suspiciously. He didn’t know how much he missed them even after those few days. 

“You sounded kind of off, so we decided to pick you up and defend you if there’s anything to defend you from.” Niall explained after hugging him tightly and pressing a kiss to Harry’s cheek. Harry let out a small laugh and embraced Liam, who ruffled his curls. 

“Where’s Louis?” Liam asked eventually and Harry sighed. “Can we maybe go home first?” 

They did. Harry showered to get rid of the flight and Liam and Niall prepared tea with some snacks. They all cuddled up on Harry’s couch, Cherry meowing happily that Harry was back and settling his lap after he was huddled in a blanket. 

They didn’t say anything and Harry knew it was because he had to start if anything. He was the one asking them to come to his flat. He also knew that Niall wouldn’t press him to speak if he didn’t want to and that Liam would give him some time before eventually stepping in. 

“I just made a really, really big mistake and I don’t know how to fix anything.” Harry started, tears already forming in his eyes. He was home with his two best friends and he felt like he could breathe and relax for what felt like the first time today. 

They quietly hushed him and pressed their body’s closer to his. Harry didn’t know what he did to deserve his friends. 

“What happened?” Liam asked gently and Harry sniffed before looking at the ceiling. 

“We had sex. We got completely smashed on my birthday and then it happened...and then I woke up and- and he did too and he was so mad. He just- he rushed out of the room... we were in my room and he- he didn’t really say anything but we were supposed to leave for our flight and- he didn’t show up. I waited in the car but the driver said he couldn’t make it. He’s still in Paris.” His words were rambled together but Liam and Niall listened closely and nodded and seemed to understand him. So it was okay. 

“He hates me,” Harry sobbed out and buried his face in his hands. It was embarrassing and he knew that. 

“Hey, H. It’s alright, you’re okay. He doesn’t hate you. Probably was as surprises as you when he woke up.” Liam gently took Harry’s wrist in his hands and pulled them away from his face. Harry just shook his head. 

“He does. He never wanted it. What if he thinks I raped him?”

“Whoa, Harry calm down! You didn’t and he probably remembers enough of the night to now that something like that never happens and he also knows you good enough to know, that you would never do something like that.” Niall interrupted him. Harry just cried more. “I never would do something like that.” 

“Shh, we know H. We know. And he does too. Don’t worry. He likes you, probably more than that believe me.” Liam wrapped his arms around Harry, cradling him close. 

“He doesn’t. He thinks I’m disgusting and he probably did all of this- his nice attitude and him taking me to dinner and- everything just for sex and I was stupid enough to fall for him!” Harry cried some more and didn’t notice the look Liam and Niall shared at his words. Liam hugged him closer and gently swayed them from side to side. 

“It’s alright Haz, you’re good. He didn’t use you, I’m sure. He probably has his reasons.” 

“And what kind of reasons could that be?” Niall chimed in before Harry could, his voice sounding resentful. Harry blinked up at his blonde friend, an ugly sniffing sound erupting from his nose. He couldn’t find it in him to care. 

“I don’t know. All I’m saying is that we saw the way he treated Harry, right? And the way he looked at him. You love him, yeah?” Liam asked gently, looking down at Harry who was tugged against his chest. 

“What?” His voice was one or two octaves too high. Liams question took him off guard, and he squirmed uncomfortably in the older mans arm before shrugging.

Harry wouldn’t say he loved Louis. They were friends. He and Louis. Harry realises that he probably, definitely has feelings for Louis. 

“Yeah- No, I mean no! I don’t  love him. I jus’ like him a lot.” He admitted timidly, a blush forming on his wet cheeks, “but it doesn’t matter anyway. It wouldn’t work.” 

“Why not? You like him and I’m pretty sure he likes you too. He’s just being a huge dick right now.” Harry looked at Niall who gave his ankle a comforting squeeze. 

“He’s my boss.” He simply stated, deeming it as enough explanation. It apparently wasn’t judging by the way Niall looked at him in confusion. “I work for him and it’s inappropriate to like, sleep with your boss, I guess? And I already broke that rule. But yeah. It isn’t allowed.”

“Says who?” Harry shrugged at Nialls question. “It’s common knowledge Ni. Something like that is never liked to be seen. Niall huffed and rolled his eyes. “Did he ever say that it wasn’t allowed or are there like documents or I don’t know where it explicitly reads that dating your boss isn’t allowed?” Harry shook his head and looked at Liam, who shrugged with his shoulders. “Dunno.” He mumbled, suddenly feeling tired. 

“See! And besides. Louis’ his own boss. He makes the rules! He’s being a coward.” 

“Louis’ a good man. He-“

“He hurt Harry, why are you even on his side?” Niall interrupted Liam who started to stroke Harry’s curls, calming him down. Harry felt too tired to speak in this moment. 

“I’m not on his side, Niall. I’m saying he has his reasons for the way he acted. I’m not saying they’re good.” 

“Sounds like it though.”

“I don’t think I want to see him again.” Harry mumbled out, voice slower then before. He was about to fall asleep. 

“That’s alright H.” Niall says with a soft voice, the same time Liam says, “but you have to tomorrow.” 

He didn’t hear the rest of the conversation because he fell asleep. 

*

He did not go to work on Monday. He woke up in his bed, questioning how he even got there in the first place but then remembering that Liam and Niall helped him and tucked him in.It all came crushing down in one big wave.

He didn’t check his phone, just turned around and fell back asleep. 

Later, when he woke up he walked into his kitchen and made himself a cuppa. He didn’t felt hungry. Just tired. 

He stroke Cherry’s fur and cooed over her, feeling a slight spark of happiness from seeing his cat erupt in his chest. It does when he remembered how he even got the ball of fluff sitting on his counter. 

He sighed and turned away, grabbing his cup and walking back into the bedroom. He slowly drank his tea, the blinds in his room left his room in a grey Color. Harry thought it fit his mood. 

Once he was finishers he hid himself under his duvet and fell asleep once more. 

Hunger eventually took over and because he felt too tired to cook himself something healthy he ordered food. A rare thing. 

He settled with Chinese and once it was there, he just shifted back underneath his sheets. 

*

Harry slept in. Once he saw what time it was he decided that he would stay at home. He felt tired, which should be impossible after having spend the entire day before sleeping. But here he was. 

He dragged himself out of bed and walked into

his kitchen, making himself a tea and then he grabbed a banana that needed to be eaten anyway. He walked back into his room, sighing when he saw his luggage that still needed to be unpacked and the empty food container on his bedside drawer. 

He was too tired to clean up or deal with his clothes. They’d have to wait. 

He only turned his phone on to text his mom, telling her that he was fine and that he would visit her later that week. After that, he turned it off again. 

He managed to doze the day away, only leaving his bed for quick bathroom visits or to get a few snacks when his tummy growled. The rest of the day was spend sleeping or watching trash tv. 

Something that was way more interesting than it should be really. 

*

Harry felt empty. He couldn’t really explain it himself. It’s not like Louis’ and him had something to loose anyway. You can’t loose something that never existed and yet Harry still felt like he did. 

He caught himself questioning how Louis was right now but quickly dismissed it. It didn’t matter, he probably hated Harry and was fine, even happy to not be bothered with him anymore. 

When Harry walked into his kitchen this afternoon, he noticed that he was running out of some of the things and that he was due for a grocery shopping. He still managed to make himself a small breakfast. Grocery shopping could wait, he was sure he had enough Ramen Soups stocked away. He would survive. 

Cherry meowed at him and he gave her a few treats before shuffling back into the bedroom. It was messy and Harry should feel uncomfortable in it but he didn’t find it in him to care. His brain was to busy trying not to think of certain blue eyes. 

The days were okay. The nights were the problem. 

Though, he didn’t understand the difference, his thoughts were worse at night and he found himself crying. 

He was pathetic, he knew that. He couldn’t help himself. 

*

Day four came around and Harry woke up around noon to voices. He slowly blinked his eyes open and furrowed his brows when he heard Niall and Liam whisper screaming to each other. 

“Guys?” He asked, pushing himself of the bed so he was in a sitting position against the headboard. He rubbed his eyes and let out a yawn before looking back at his friends. 

“You woke him up!” Niall scolded Liam and nudged his shoulder with his hand. “Yeah, about time.”

“What?” Harry asked, dumbly.

“It’s thursday Harry. You haven’t been to work for 4 days and, what’s even worse, haven’t answer any of our text or calls. Besides it looks horrible here and you should really open your windows. When was the last time you took a shower?” 

Overwhelmed with everything Harry just shrugged his shoulders and let his eyes wander over his bedroom. It was a mess, takeout boxes were scattered around the floor together with used tissues and other stuff. 

“Did you even left the flat since Sunday?” Harry shook his head no at Liams question. The brown eyed man let out a, what sounded frustrated sigh and he looked at Niall who gave him a comforting smile. 

“Okay, how about you take a shower, get all clean and I’ll clean up in here. Niall, go help H.” Niall walked over to him and held his hand for Harry to take. 

“You really don’t have to help me. I’m fine.” He said while taking Nialls outstretched hand. “Okay.” 

They walked into the bathroom where Niall started the shower. He laid a towel out for Harry, who was already stripping. “I’ll go get your some clothes.” Harry nodded and stepped into the shower. 

He turned the temperature of the shower hotter, letting the water just run over his body for a few minutes before he started to scrub himself clean. He could hear Liam and Niall discussing something but didn’t focus on their voices. 

The hot water felt good on his skin and he scrubbed himself raw until it was red and getting wrinkly, looking like a prune. 

He shampooed and conditioned his hair before stepping out of the shower. He turned it off and grabbed the towel, Niall had layer out earlier for him. 

He made a quick job of drying himself off before he slipped into the clothes, a big jumper and some sweatpants. It was comfortable and the big jumper was engulfing him like a blanket.

He didn’t look in the mirror, thankful that it was foggy from the shower. He probably looked horrible, he didn’t need the visual confirmation.

Liam and Nialls conversation stopped when he opened the door to the bathroom and stepped out, making him think that they probably talked about him. Harry wanted to roll his eyes but he didn’t, instead just walked back into the bedroom. 

They had made an efficient work on getting it clean and Harry noticed that they even started to unpack his luggage. Again, Harry asked himself with what he deserved his friends. He probably didn’t. He was glad to have them anyway. 

His bed had new sheets on them and he asked himself how long he showered. Pretty long apparently. 

“Feeling better?” Liam asked, stepping into the bedroom. Harry hummed and fiddled with the hem of his jumper. “I guess. Thank you.” He added. 

“Course H.” Niall smiled at him and then walked over to sit down next to him. 

“Wanna talk about it?” Niall asked and Harry shook his head no. 

“When are you going back to work?” Liam asked from where he was leaning against the door frame. 

“Dunno. Never?” 

“D’you wanna quit?” Liam asked then. And of course he didn’t want to quit. His job was a dream, really and he probably wouldn’t find anything as good and well payed as this one but he dreaded to see Louis again. 

“Y’know, he was there yesterday and if it makes you feel better, he looked worse than you.” 

“He did?” Liam hummed in confirmation. “Oh.” 

“Did he try to call you or something?” Niall asked and grabbed Harry’s phone from the nightstand. 

“I haven’t checked my phone since Sunday. Just once to check mom but I ignored everything else.”

“Oh, but he did.” Niall grinned and sat up straight again. Harry’s eyes widen and he tried to grab the phone but Niall held it away. 

“28 unread messages and 16 phone calls. That’sweak, he could’ve done better.” 

“Niall, give him the phone back.” Liam scolded, smile on his lips. Niall rolled his eyes but complied. 

“Should I call him back?” Harry asked unsure and looked at Liam. “You have to know that.” 

“I wouldn’t do it. I would let him wait some more. If he really meant it, he would’ve tried harder. Showed up here or something else. You can always find a way.” Harry chewed on his lip as he took in what Niall just said and the Irish lad had a decent point. 

“Yeah, you’re right.” He breathed out feeling suddenly disappointed. 

“Haz, don’t listen to Niall. He probably wanted to give you space and not invade your privacy by camping in front of your door. You probably wouldn’t have let him in anyway. Probably wouldn’t even have heard him in your state.” 

Harry locked his phone again and later it down. 

“What, you’re not going to look?” Niall gasped out. Harry shook his head no. “I don’t think I could.” 

“Can I?” Niall then asked, sounding eager. Harry looked back at Liam who gave him a look that told him that he had to decide on his own.

“Okay. But if it’s bad I don’t want to hear it.” Harry grabbed his phone again and later it in Nialls hand who immediately unlocked it. 

“Oh, that’s boring.” Niall then said as he read through the messages. “Does he really text like that?” 

“What?” Harry asks, trying to take a peak bit Niall tilted the phone away. 

“God he really writes a lot.” 

“What’s he writing?” Harry whined. 

“Oh.” 

“What?” Harry asked again, getting impatient now. 

“He says he wants to talk... bla bla bla... Are you okay.... bla bla.... please talk to him...bla bla bla bla.... lots and lots of are you okay, why aren’t you answering and even some I’m sorrys.”

“That’s good right?” He looks between his best friends, anxiously awaiting their answers. 

“I think he could’ve tried harder. He acted like a dick.” Niall settled for an answer.

“I think you should talk to him.” Liam eventually says. 

Harry was indecisive. 

They forced him to go out that day, took him grocery shopping and for a walk on the park. Harry whined the whole time. He felt better that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well hello there.  
> Guess who’s back before a whole week went by. Me besties.  
> I don’t like this chapter but it is what it is. A fucking rollercoaster lmao. 
> 
> Lemme know if you want to see anything!!! 
> 
> Leave a comment 
> 
> I love you xx
> 
> (Also my friends are shitty and I’m really upset but what’s new.)


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey besties.   
> We’re at Chapter 19 already and things are going to get even more south.

Harry was quiet proud of himself for not having turned to the numbing feeling alcohol brought with it. Yet. Because alcohol made people forget. All of their worries and thoughts drowned into the burning liquor. So yeah, Harry felt proud for having not turned to the one thing that he used probably way to often to forget. 

Harry managed to take his extra hours that have been piling up and some of his holiday days to be freed from work. He needed it or rather needed to be away from Louis. He didn’t even now where he was or what he was up to and didn’t ask Liam who sure as hell knew. 

They didn’t really talked about it not unless Harry brought the topic up on his own but when he did, Niall and Liam made sure to comfort him and listen to him. Harry loved his friends. 

With his new won free time and his will to not turn to alcohol, Harry needed something else to cope and that was his cat. Lovely, fluffy Cherry who Harry loved to bits. He did. And his love for the cat probably wasn’t always returned, judging by the scratch marks on Harry’s hands after he tried to put on the first outfit. Because Harry saw a video on Twitter were a cat was wearing a cute shirt and immediately bought one for Cherry as well. And then he even saw one with cherry’s on it and he thought it fitted perfectly. The more he looked the more things he found that he wanted to see on his cat. He ordered 5 outfits and even a hat. 

The things arrived the next day, thanks to the express shipping Harry chose because he was that impatient. So to say Harry was upset when Cherry didn’t immediately approve of his actions may be an understatement. He did manage to pull it on her in the end, coaxing her with gentle words and a lot of treats. The treats probably helped more than his voice. 

“Aren’t you the cutest thing in the world?” Harry cooed to his cat, taking pictures of her and sending them to his friends and mom. His mom who still didn’t know why her son was so upset the last time he visited her. Harry refused to tell her what happened in Paris because he needed her to concentrate on herself, on getting better again. 

Cherry, eventually got used to the fabric and Harry only made her wear it a few hours a day. It cheered him up, even if only for a few moments. 

He also found himself baking a lot. Something he enjoyed before, turned now into something close to an obsession. Harry couldn’t help himself. It was relaxing and gave him something to do, something to focus on. He did it all, from recipes he already knew by heart, to recipes he always wanted to try and even some he thought he’d never be able to manage to make.It was way too much for himself to eat so he built the courage up and handed the baked goods to his neighbours when his friends couldn’t take them. Liam and Niall didn’t say anything about it, just ate what Harry gave them and complimented him on it. 

All of his day time activities didn’t save him from the night though. Harry found himself restless turning around in his bed, trying to find a comfortable position and to keep his head focused on sleeping rather than blue eyes. The realisation of him, having an actual crush on Louis Tomlinson hit him hard and unsuspected in a way. Thoughts around Louis were keeping him awake at night and ended with him always taking a long nap the next afternoon. He analysed every word, every touch, every moment, just trying to understand. He analysed every small detail that was there without ever coming to a conclusion or an answer to all of those questions in his head. It was exhausting and left Harry with a headache and dark circles around the eyes. 

So, that were Harry’s days. Sometimes he even went out for a walk but he mostly stayed home. The problem was that he only had so much extra hours and sick days. Sooner or later he had to go back to work- or quit but Harry knew that that was one of the dumbest things he could do. This job was good and well payed and he had bills to pay nevertheless. Liam encouraged him to go back to work as soon as possible, because of course he did. Responsibility and Liam belonged together. Niall on the other hand said to take his time. Harry didn’t knew what he wanted. Well he did but that contained not having to see Louis ever again and that probably wouldn’t work if he wanted to keep his job. It was a dilemma really. 

He still had this week though. He needed to make a choice, he knew that. 

It appeared that Harry didn’t have to make the choice on his own because midst his last week that he could allow himself to stay at home before probably being forced to find a new job, his door bell rang. 

Harry immediately opened without checking who it was- he was still expecting packets to be delivered to him so he figured it probably was the postman. He waited patiently at the door, listening to the light steps echoing from the walls. 

It wasn’t the postman that was walking up to Harry though. As soon as he saw the caramel hair and blue eyes, staring directly at him he was shutting the door. He definitely wasn’t ready. Probably never would be. 

He pressed his ear against the door, trying to filter out if the steps would disappear again. They didn’t, instead Harry was startled when suddenly a loud knock shook the door, hurting his ears. He shrieked and stepped back from the door staring at it with big eyes as if he burned himself on it. 

“Harry, c’mon open the door.” Louis voice sounded muffled coming from the other side of the door. Harry shook his head, because  no . No way in hell would he open that door right now. 

He played this scenario in his head countless times and almost every time did it end bad. With him and Louis hating each other if that didn’t already happened. Harry didn’t hate Louis, of course he didn’t but he couldn’t speak for the older man behind his door. 

Because Harry also spend a lot of time thinking about the last night in Paris. They were both so drunk and if Harry remembers it right, Louis was way more wasted than him. Leaving Harry being the one that should’ve been responsible. These thoughts left Harry thinking he sexually assaulted Louis in a way and he hated that thought but he wouldn’t blame Louis either if the older man accused him of something like that. 

Harry dreaded this conversation like nothing else before. In his mind there was always so much screaming, so much hate and rage and it hurt. Harry didn’t want to loose Louis if not just as a friend. In such a short period of time of them knowing each other they got close andthat not only physical. Harry trusted Louis, so the thought of actually loosing him hurt. 

But, maybe this is supposed to happen. Not everyone is supposed to stay with you forever right? 

“Please Harry, I just want to talk.“ Louis sounded sincere and Harry took a small step forward, while he, at the same time pulled his phone out of his joggers. He opened Nialls contact, staring down at it his thumb lingering over the call button. He knew that if he called Niall right now he and Liam would take care of Louis and him afterwards. 

Harry’s lip was bruised by the time he put the phone away again and he took another step towards the door. He took a deep breath and when Louis let out a small “please Haz,” he opened it slowly his knees feeling week at the familiar nickname that sounded so beautiful spoken from Louis’ husky voice. 

“Hi,” Louis tried to smile at him but it looked restrained. Harry slowly studied Louis face, taking in the pale skin and sharp cheekbones that look more present than Harry remembered. Like him, Louis had dark circles around his eyes and looked tired. The older man was wearing black joggers with a green Adidas jumper. 

It felt like an eternity since Harry last saw Louis and flashbacks of their last night together shot through Harry’s head, making him blush. 

“Hello Louis,” Harry breathed out, trying to sound distant and calm but it came out shaky and pathetic. Harry hated his voice for betraying him like that. 

Louis did the same as Harry, letting his gaze wander over Harry’s face and clothes. Harry didn’t say anything, just waited patiently for Louis to take the next step. 

“Uhm,” he cleared his throat before looking up at Harry again. “I think we should talk.” 

Harry’s brain was screaming  _Yes, yes we should_ but he didn’t let it show just coked an eyebrow at Louis who sighed. 

Harry felt quite smug at this moment because putting everything aside, maybe Niall was right. Louis  _ did _ storm out of the room this morning and made Harry feel horrible. Louis  _ did _ make Harry leave Paris alone without any explanations. And now, three weeks later he was standing in front of his door. So, to see him nervous and unsure, something that Louis rarely was given his job, Harry liked to see this side of him. It made Louis humane. 

“Can I come in?” He asked a tad bit impatient and Harry huffed lightly but stepped to the side nevertheless. Louis took a deep breath, collecting himself before stepping in. Harry closed the door quietly behind him and decided to lean against it. 

He figured he’d let Louis lead this conversation. 

Cherry was coming around the corner and Harry blushed when he saw that she was still wearing one of her outfits, the one with the strawberries. Louis who was facing the car let out a small chuckle and turned to Harry with a mocking smirk. 

He leaned down to her and patted her for a few moments before standing up again. He cleared his throat once more and clasped his hands together a movement that just screamed  _Louis_.  Cherry walked over to Harry, stroking her body along his shins and then making her way to the bedroom. 

Harry looked up to Louis again who was facing him now, shoulders slumped down and a frown on his face. 

“I can make us tea?” Harry offered softly. He didn’t intended to make this harder than it has to be. Louis seemed to be relieved by Harry’s offer and nodded with a small smile. “Yeah, that’d be great.” They held eye contact for a few more moments and Harry wished he could read what was behind those blue eyes that were watching him intently. 

He nodded to himself before walking into his kitchen, Louis a few steps behind him. They didn’t talk while Harry made the tea and he was thankful for the distraction. He noticed Louis fiddle with his hands and the towel that was laying on the counter, twisting and twirling it around in a nervous movement. 

Once he was done, Harry placed the cup in front of Louis together with some of the cookies he baked the day before. He watched Louis wrap his hands around the mug and sat down on one of the stools he had in the kitchen. 

Harry knew it were just minutes but it felt like hours in which they didn’t talk. He switched from looking at his tea to looking up at Louis whose eyes were constantly trained on the cookies in front of him. 

“You wanted to talk Louis and I’m willing to listen but for that you have to actually start.” Harry’s voice sounded empty, shallow, not really like his voice but he figured it was better than being a shaky mess right now. He didn’t really want Louis to know how much of a mess he’d been the past weeks so acting like it didn’t affect him at all was probably his best bet. 

Louis eyes shot up at that and he nodded. His voice sounded like he hadn’t spoken for days, “I know and I had a plan of what I wanted to say but I... I don’t know where to start...” Louis trailed off, looking at Harry as if asking him to lead this conversation. Like hell he would. Harry had a few ideas where they could start, number one on his list was  _ how about we had sex and you stormed out of the room the next morning _ , he didn’t say that though. Harry had a thousand things to say to Louis but he refused to ask him all the questions he has or say anything at all. He would listen to Louis, see his viewpoint because Harry had actually no clue. 

Louis was always so private and only showed what he wanted people to see. It left Harry clueless and he got more and more fixated to the idea of letting Louis fix, whatever there was left to fix. Hopefully a friendship, maybe more. 

Louis took a sip from the tea, smiling when he noticed that Harry did it exactly how he liked it. Of course he had because Harry knew the way Louis liked his tea like the back of his hand. 

Cherry hopped on the counter, not even sharing them a glance before laying down on top of it, between them. They both watched her finding a comfortable position. 

“So, cat costumes?” Louis looked up at Harry who wanted to roll his eyes and scream for him to finally talk about the obvious, the elephant in the room. He nodded and shrugged his shoulders instead. “Thought they looked cute and her name’s Cherry...” Harry explained, looking at the Cherry printed fabric. 

“How are you?” Louis asked carefully as if he wasn’t sure if this was the right question. It wasn’t, Harry thought it was a pretty dumb question and unnecessary but he answered him. “I’m fine. Alright.” He nodded and Louis mirrors the gesture. “You weren’t at work.” He stated the obvious a few moments later and Harry let out a big breath but nodded. “Yeah, needed a break. Think about things.”

Harry didn’t quite understand why Louis was saying what he was saying because Louis must have had something before turning up here. But now, it seemed like he had no clue of what he was doing here, how he even came here. It was like he was waiting for Harry to fix everything and like he already said, he wouldn’t do that. Not alone. 

“Like what?”  _ Like quitting my job _ . 

“Why are you here Louis?” He asks again rather than answering him. “I already said that, to talk.” 

“Well, lemme tell you what. You’re doing a shit job at it.” Louis mouth opened and closed a few times, like a fish trying to breathe and Harry leaned back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest. “What?” He finally manages to screech out and this time Harry allowed himself to roll his eyes. “You heard me.”

“Look H,” he made a pause again and looked up at Harry. Louis had no right to call him nicknames right now. Not until they figured out where they were,  _ what _ they were. “I just- I’m sorry okay?” And no it wasn’t  _ okay _ . “What are you sorry for?” Harry shot back, his voice was calm and he leaned forward again. “You know what. Haz, just-“

“You should go Louis.” He interrupted him before he could finish the sentence and Louis frowned. “What? No!” Harry stood up from his stool and closed his eyes, trying to fight back the tears. “Please Louis, just go.” His voice was cold and distant and so  not Harry it sounded strange even to him. 

“Haz, love-“ 

“Don’t you dare Louis.” He interrupted him, face settled into a frown. “Okay. I’m sorry, I won’t.” Louis held his hands up in defeat. “I really want to talk about everything.”

“Yeah, you already sat that like- I don’t know five times or summat yet you’re still not talking.” 

“Just go Louis.” Louis seemed to realise that Harry wouldn’t back down and he sighed before standing up. Harry opened the front door, his eyes trained to the floor as Louis walked out of the door. “Thanks for the tea.” He let the door fall shut and with it his tears fall down. 

Harry pressed the back of his hand against his mouth to restrain the sobs and listend to the sound of Louis steps disappearing after a few moments that felt like minutes of him still standing in front of Harry’s door. 

Tears were still silently falling down his cheeks when he walked into his bedroom and fell down on his bed. He needed a nap and his friends. 

He send them a message into their group chat before closing his eyes and dozing away. He would deal with everything once Liam and Niall were at his. 

Of all the times he imagined this encounter, it never happened like the way it did. 

Something heavy falling on top of him, was what woke Harry up. He grunted and blinked his eyes open. He was met with Liams who was standing in front of his bed, his brown eyes spreading warmness. Liam smiled at him once their eyes made contact. Harry tilted his head as much as the position he was in allowed, being met with Niall who was laying on top of his back. 

“Slept well?” Niall asked him, voice chipper. Harry grunted again, feeling like the air was pressed out of his lungs. Liam chuckled lightly, “Get down from him Nialler.” 

“Why?”

“‘Cause you’re heavy.” Harry muttered out, which just led to Niall squeezing him tighter. Harry started to squirm under him until he managed to get Niall halfway off of him and rolled around causing his friend to fall off the bed. Niall landed with a loud thud and let out a series of slurs. Harry and Liam shared a look before falling into loud laughter. 

Harry thought that in this moment the world was okay. 

They eventually managed to make their way into the kitchen, Niall pouting until he saw the cookies still on the counter. Harry prepared them all tea. 

“Louis was here. Earlier.” Liam and Niall fell silent at Harry’s words. He was facing the kettle, his back turned to his friends. 

“Oh.” Niall said at the same time as Liam asked, “and?” Harry poured the hot water into the mugs and turned around shrugging. 

“I didn’t expect him, thought it was like the postman or something. He said he wanted to talk.” Harry paused and studied the faces of his friends. Liam seemed just curious about everything but Nialls face was set into a frown, looking almost mad. 

“I let him in and made tea-“

“You’re too nice.” Niall interrupted making them look at him. 

“I just made tea Niall. Just being a good host.” Harry defend Louis and Liam nodded. “Besides it’s good that he came in the first place. You were the one saying he needed to

do more.” He added and Niall rolled his eyes. 

“I shut the door in front of his face because I wasn’t ready you know? I didn’t expect him and I still don’t know what to think about everything. But he said he wanted to talk and he was knocking on the door so I let him in.” 

“He better not have said anything stupid.” Niall muttered out and Harry shook his head. 

“No he didn’t. Not really at least. It was weird because he said that he came here with a plan, that he knew what he wanted to say but he just... never really talked I guess. He asked me how I was and stated that I wasn’t at work which- duh. And he seemed like he had no idea what to even say it where to begin.”

He gave each Niall and Liam a cup with their teas and leaned against the counter. 

“And what did you do?”

“Nothing really,” he shrugged his shoulder again. “Just asking him what he wanted because I kind of thought what Niall said made sense. Louis needs to fix- whatever that is. And he came to talk so it was his turn.” 

“You could’ve made things easier for him though.” Liam reasoned, making Niall huff. “Why? He’s been a dick to Harry all this time, using him how he wanted. If he really likes Harry as a friend or more then he need to be able to show that.” 

“But don’t you want to be friends with him? Or even more? You said it yourself Harry. You said you were in love with him.” 

“Woah no, just no. I said I had a crush on him but I also had a crush on David Beckham whenI was a teenager so... Besides, many aspects of what me and Louis had were just wrong.” Because Harry knew that their relationship could easily be seen as Louis acting as Harry’s sugar daddy and Harry doing him favours in return. Which maybe was exactly what happened, now thinking about it. 

“It ended with me kicking him out of here.”

Niall laughed at that and Liam was now the one whose eyebrows were knitted together. 

“He said he was sorry and I could’ve just taken his apology and move on but there are so many things that are still unsaid and he hadn’t made a move to acknowledge them.”

“But why didn’t you tell him what you want to say? Look I saw Louis a few times the past weeks and he looked like shit. He was always in a bad mood and tired and he didn’t even wear suits all the time. He’s doing bad, worse then you.”

“Because he’s not ready for the conversation as well,” Niall suddenly connects the dots. “Because maybe Harry has sorted his thoughts a bit better than Louis has but he’s said it himself that he’s not ready and from all I’ve seen from Louis, he’s- behind they whole CEO facade- a child. He’s probably not ready for this conversation. Scared of it maybe.” And yeah, that made a lot of sense. “You did the right thing when you send him away. He needs to man up.” Niall added and leaned back in his chair, grabbing another cookie. 

Harry looked at Liam, silently asking him for his opinion on this because even though he was more so on Nialls side he wanted to hear his. Liam sighed and put his cup down. 

“I don’t know H. Maybe Ni’s right, maybe not. I still think that Louis is a good man and that you two were good for each other. You could’ve talk to him today as well. But you let him walk ride into the trap even though you’re saying you have so many things you want to tell him. You’re being stubborn and scared. The worst that can happen is that Louis and you are not going to be friends anymore. So what?” He shrugged. 

“I don’t want that to happen.” Harry breathed out, Boyce suddenly getting shaky and feeling close to tears. He doesn’t want to loose Louis. “Then don’t let it, simple as that.”

It wasn’t as simple as that but he let it be for that moment. 

“Let’s watch a movie. Cheer you up again.” Niall clapped his hands together and they nodded before walking into the living room, licking some comedy movie. 

It helped getting Harry mind off of things but he felt exhausted from Louis and the talk and kind of even from the nap he took. So exhausted that he fell asleep halfway through the movie, feeling contend between his two best friends. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi bestie.   
> How are you?  
> I hope you’re doing alright and if not I’m here you know. We’re besties.   
> I had exams the last two weeks they were exhausting. I’m so tired right now. 
> 
> Also the Grammys Are This weekend and I’ve heard many people say that H is gonna wear a dress tbh I don’t think so but I’m proud of him because he’s opening them. 
> 
> LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THIS CHAPTER.


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